


Beneath the Waves

by duckieforce



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:54:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 67,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2178663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckieforce/pseuds/duckieforce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>19 year old Kiku Honda had never before questioned his village's insistence on culling the local merpeople, until he came face to face with Herakles, who he just could not kill. After saving the merman's life, the two slowly formed a rapport and then a friendship... And then more than a friendship, all while keeping their very meeting a secret from their families and others. However, with merpeople and humans being pulled into an increasingly bloody conflict, keeping their secrets- and their lives- was about to get a lot harder...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Human names:  
> Kiku- Japan; Yao-China; Mei- Taiwan; Li- Hong Kong; Kasem- Thailand; Hue- Vietnam; Yong Soo- South Korea; Kyung Soo- North Korea; Herakles- Greece; Helene- Ancient Greece; Loukas- Cyprus; Sadik- Turkey; Ludwig- Germany; Feliciano- Italy.
> 
> A few other characters get mentions I think, but they're major characters so it should be obvious who they are.
> 
> Also, having written up to the end of chapter 12, I can say for a fact that the main couple won't get together until at least chapter 14. And that that's not even half the story... It's gonna be a long one.

“Kiku… This is how we lay the nets. Just like this,” the man stated, moving to lay the large sheets of weaved rope along the beach before him.  
Kiku wasn’t listening, his eyes focused on the wonders of the sea before him. It was all so interesting! Crabs and little fish and corals and anemones all lived in harmony under the waves. It looked so much more peaceful than the land.  
“Kiku, are you paying attention to me?” The gruff voice commanded, and the boy looked up, face wide with surprise.  
“Uhh…”  
“It is important you learn this, Kiku… it will be your duty to do this one day.”  
“Okay…” The small boy nodded, his face uncertain.  
“What’s wrong?” The older of the two asked.  
“Oto-san… Why do we set the nets out like this every year? Why trap the sea creatures when they look so much like us?”  
A sad smile graced the lips of the father, before he frowned deeply, eyes set in a rage.  
“My son… It is a matter of revenge.”

“Kiku-nii, are you awake yet? We need to set the nets out today…” Came a voice through the door of Kiku’s room. Opening his eyes from where he had had them closed, leaning on the windowsill, the young man looked to the other end of his room, crossing it and opening the door to reveal his sister Mei-Mei.  
“Ah, you heard me,” she smiled sweetly. “Come on, let’s get Li and go already.” Kiku nodded, and took his younger sibling downstairs, where the youngest of his brothers was leaning against the counter of the kitchen, looking totally indifferent.  
“Hey, Kiku, let’s like, go now, okay?” The pre-teen stated without a greeting, moving towards the door before Kiku had a chance to say anything.  
“Okay, we’re coming, right, Kiku?” Mei grinned, pulling Kiku along with them.  
“Ah, yes, of course…” He confirmed, to which the younger two grinned wider, yelling back into the house.  
“Yao! We’re going now!”  
“Okay, fine! Just be back by sunset, or I’ll send Kasem out after you!” Their eldest brother shouted back, as the three youths headed out into the light of the day.  
“Kasem? What’s he gonna do, attack us with smiles?” Li snorted cynically, walking down towards the beach with his siblings. “Anyway, let’s like, get these nets down and then be out of here. Everyone else in town gets nuts around this time of year anyway.”

A few kilometres out to sea, an entirely different family began their day, nestled beneath the rough ocean. Light from the surface seeped down to a system of caves, built into the coral, which a group of intelligent sea creatures called home. Merpeople were more than just a myth; they lived and breathed, existed in the flesh, and had been at war with the people of the nearby land for over a generation. Nobody knew how it had started. Had it been that the sirens had taken one too many humans for prey? Had the humans begun to exterminate the creatures they saw as a threat? It no longer mattered. All that anybody, land or sea dwelling, could care about now was that their side won the war. At least, this was the mentality of the female swimming through the undersea complex, searching for her sons.  
“Herakles? Loukas?”  
“Good morning mama,” greeted Herakles, the older of the two, emerging from where he had been napping against a rock.  
“Is everything alright?” Asked the younger, Loukas, entering the coral with a fish in his hands, freshly killed. Helene, the mother of the two, sighed in relief.  
“I just wanted to be sure that the two of you weren’t planning to go near any beaches anytime in the next week,” she explained.  
“No, I wasn’t… Why?” Loukas replied, looking to his brother to back him up. Herakles merely nodded.  
“The humans have set nets out to trap us again. It looks like they intend to destroy our numbers… We must stay away from the beach until they give up with their strategy. Then we counter-attack,” she detailed. “Can you manage that?” The two mermen nodded.  
“Good…” She smiled. “Now… if anything happens, come and see me. I’ll be hunting the other side of the reef.”  
Herakles waved after her as she left.  
“Bye mama…”  
Unknown to Herakles, the masked eyes of his rival watched him from the seaweed.

‘Whenever did Mei get so tall?’ Kiku wondered in his head, watching his sister and brother set out the large, gaping nets along the seafront. The girl, roughly 13, with long brown hair and shining dark eyes, held up the end of the net with ease, while Li pinned it to the beach with large wooden stakes, his darker eyes betraying no emotion. Just like Kiku’s own. Just like their father’s…  
“Hey, Kiku, we like, need more stakes over here,” Li complained, causing the older sibling to be spurred from his thoughts, heading towards his siblings with the bag of stakes.  
“Thank you nii-san,” Mei smiled, while Li only nodded, picking up the stakes and getting back to work.  
“They’ll like, be in for it this year…” He mused, and Kiku’s eyes widened. That was exactly what their father would have said!  
Kiku wasn’t even sure whether he agreed with this yearly ‘cull’. In his opinion, the Merpeople only attacked humans because humans attacked them. He had seen how peaceful and kind the sea could be. He believed that it was humans who were destroying that. But his father had never agreed. And now the same warped ideas that everyone else followed were imprinted on his siblings.  
“Hey, like, how about this?” Li asked, standing up and looking over the progress they had made.  
“It looks great!” Mei assured “We’ll be safe again this year…”  
‘Safe?’ Kiku thought, ‘why would she think that we need the nets just to be safe?’  
“Hey!” Came a voice from the head of the beach, and Kiku looked around to see his cousin Yong Soo heading towards them, with what looked like a bear trap in his arms. Kiku sighed: the 17 year old could be eccentric sometimes.  
“Like, what do you have there?” Li asked, which set Yong Soo off into a torrent of speaking.  
“Well, me and Kyung Soo were over at the edge of town, and we saw a hunter with these trap like things, and I thought that they would be a perfect way of keeping us safe! If, like, the Merpeople miss the nets,” he explained, and was about to speak again before Mei spoke up.  
“That’s cruel! You can’t do that!” She exclaimed, but the teen wasn’t listening, instead wading into the water, setting the trap in the deeper water, up to about his waist.  
“Yong Soo! Maiming a creature does not make you a hero! I know we have to cull these things, but we should be humane!” Mei protested.  
“Nah, it’ll be fine… Right, Kiku?” Yong Soo turned to the oldest for support.  
“Yeah, like, Kiku, tell her,” Li seconded.  
“…I agree with Mei,” Kiku answered, making the two boys’ mouths drop, and Mei’s smile light up.  
“Whatever. Only because she’s your favourite,” Yong Soo dismissed. “Anyway, I’m going to get more of those traps, so see ya around!” He exclaimed, running off back up the beach.  
“Like, bye,” Li called after him.  
“As for us…” Kiku turned to his siblings, “we should return home. It’s beginning to get a little dark; I didn’t notice we’d been out all day.”  
“Nah, I’m going to like, stay and help Yong Soo with his trap-setting,” Li replied, and Mei didn’t seem to like that answer.  
“Yao-ge is going to give you hell,” she frowned.  
“Let him. I’d like to see what he would do.” He shrugged.  
“You’re not putting out any more traps,” Kiku decided, not wanting such a cruel method to be used. “The two of you need to clear up Yong Soo’s mess and come home.” And with that, he took Mei and left.

Herakles swam further away from the coral, heading towards the dolphins he saw in the distance, certain that they were his friends. Before he could reach them though, the creatures took flight, disappearing from the scene as fast as they could. Herakles was confused; why would they flee like that? Something must have scared them.  
“Hehehe… Hey, Jerkules! Hope you don’t mind that I frightened off your pets,” came a voice from the rocks nearby, and Herakles turned around to see Sadik, his greatest rival, relaxing against the formation, sneering at the other.  
“They’re not pets, Sadik… they’re my friends,” Herakles replied, defiant.  
“Yeah, right. Only weak little merlings do things like count dumb sea creatures as their friends and obey every single word their precious mama tells ‘em,” Sadik retorted.  
“Shut up…” Herakles growled lowly, “you don’t even know what you’re talking about…Jerk.”  
“Oh yeah?” Sadik snarled, “well, real mermen take risks! For example, they ain’t afraid to swim close to the shoreline, even when the humans have nets out!”  
“Mermen who swim close to the shore end up dead,” Herakles replied, his face stony.  
“Too bad,” Sadik shrugged. “I guess yer content to just stay home and listen to mama. How lame, Herakles…”  
He swam a little away from Herakles before speaking again. “I was going to make a wager with you, but if you’re this lame, then I really shouldn’t bother, I suppose.”  
“What kind of wager would a jerk like you make anyway?” Herakles asked, suspicious.  
“Well, I was by the shore earlier, and I just so happened to notice yer brother’s dagger lying in the sediment…” Sadik started.  
“You stole it!” Herakles accused.  
“I didn’t take anything!” Sadik placed his hands up in defence. “I swear, I just found tha thing! Although… I do have it now…” He took the tool out from the bag he had been holding it in.  
“Give it back. Now,” Herakles threatened.  
“Heh… Here’s my wager, brat. Ya want it, ya gotta get me first,” Sadik laughed, swimming off as fast as he could.  
“Come back here!” Herakles yelled after him, giving chase.

“Hey, like, Kasem, this is completely out of order. Seriously, like, put me down already,” Li complained, being carried back through the threshold of the house.  
“Too bad, you should have just come home when you were told,” the young man with the omnipresent smile chucked, placing Li down in the dining room, where Mei looked over at him with a smirk on her face.  
“Welcome back Li.”  
“Aiyah, you should have been home ages ago! I told you to be back by sunset!” Yao scolded, dishing food out for the siblings.  
“Yong Soo didn’t get back by sunset…” Li complained.  
“Oh, he did. I made sure he did,” Yong Soo’s twin ominously declared from his place in the doorway.  
“Ow! Yao! Hue hit me with her paddle again!” Yong Soo shouted from upstairs. “This is turning into the worst day ever! Why does everyone want to beat me up?”  
“Jerk…” 16-year old Hue complained, walking into the room from where she had been beating Yong Soo up.

In the kitchen, Kiku, as the second eldest sibling, was already washing up the utensils he and Yao had used to make the dinner, the two men having eaten earlier. Yao was 21 and split his time between looking after his younger siblings, teaching other people in the town to cook, and babysitting other people’s children. Kiku, at 19, was already his second in command, and the one everyone turned to when Yao wasn’t around. His decisions were always final though, and it was impossible to try to ask Kiku to overturn anything Yao had decreed.

As he moved to place the pans away within the cupboard of the modest kitchen space, Kiku’s ears picked up on shouting from upstairs, and seconds later, Kasem entered the kitchen, his face looking slightly pale.  
“Kiku… Did Yong Soo really try to catch the Merpeople with bear traps?” He asked.  
“He wanted to… But I told him to give up on that plan,” the older stated, and Kasem seemed to relax a little at this.  
“Good… I mean… I know we need them dead, but that doesn’t mean we have to be cruel about it,” he discussed, returning to his usual smiley self as he progressed through his sentence.  
“Kiku!” Yao called from the dining room at that point, and Kasem slipped away as Kiku returned to his older brother.  
“Kiku, it’s time to go,” Yao told him once he reached him, “you know what you need to do.”  
Kiku nodded mutely, taking one of the daggers the family owned, and heading towards the door. He always hated this time of year, because he was expected to take life. As years went by, people were becoming more and more nonchalant about it, and he hated that too. He had never actually killed before, due to the zealous nature of his neighbours, but he had to be prepared to. And so, Kiku headed into the night.

Herakles swam faster and faster through the ocean, trying his hardest to catch up to Sadik. His rival was constantly in his vision, and he seemed to be gaining on him. As he caught up to the other though, he failed to notice how close he was getting to the shore nearby. Sadik sneered as he got ever closer, leading Herakles right into the danger zone, where the humans had set up various traps and nets. Sadik avoided them all with ease, having already taken the time to watch a lot of the more sophisticated traps being set up, and being too smart to just fall into the cruder ones. Herakles on the other hand, had no idea of what was waiting for him, and unknowingly found his way right into danger. As he swam, he hit against a wire so thin that it was practically invisible, floating in the water. The wire broke, triggering a pulley which fired an arrow towards the merman. Herakles heard the sound of the arrow firing, and swerved away from the danger, but this action caused him to brush against the seabed, triggering another of the traps laid out for him. Herakles winced as the bear trap sliced at the skin on his arm, causing blood to diffuse from the wound and out into the sea in a wisp of red. Wincing at the seawater irritating the gash and trying to remove the device before it could do more damage, Herakles floundered, one of his tail fins getting caught in netting laid out nearby. Herakles eventually managed to get his arm free but by this point, he was completely snared in the net, and the more he struggled, the more the rope tangled into his tail, cutting into the flesh. Eventually, Herakles stopped trying to escape, and lay exhausted in the water as the tide began to flow out around him. Over the other side of the area, Sadik swam home, with guilt in his heart, believing that he had gone too far.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Kiku finally meet and the first of many secrets is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Herakles and Kiku are talking about floors, Kiku mentions his house having a ground floor and then a first floor. In English floor numbering, the floor on ground level is called the ground floor/floor 0 and the floor above is the first floor/floor 1. I am aware that even on the Continent things can be numbered differently, so I apologise for any confusion that may come about from this.

“Hey! No fair! I’m the one who killed it!”  
“I want those scales! They look so pretty!”  
“You can’t just take that much meat! Let me have some!”  
Kiku scowled at the sounds of the townspeople fighting over their kill. In his opinion, it was completely barbaric. He paid no mind to them as he walked further down the beach, completely out of their sight. He wasn’t expecting to find anything in the nets he had set out, so was incredibly surprised to find a shape within the fabric as he began to draw near. Kiku’s breath caught; he didn’t know whether he could actually kill one of those creatures. He crept closer, noticed the blood from where the merman had caught himself on the net, tearing his fins as he tried to escape… And from a gash across his arm. He swallowed. He couldn’t kill it. The merman looked up hazily at him, too weak to even consider his presence properly, and Kiku knew for sure that he couldn’t kill the creature. He crouched down to the merman’s level, and took in his appearance. Green eyes narrowed as the creature finally took him in, hissing harshly at him.  
“It’s okay… I won’t hurt you,” Kiku vowed, but it did little to affect the other’s mood. Sighing, Kiku tried to think of a way he could help. His eyes travelled up the beach, to where the other townspeople were slaughtering other Merpeople. The man didn’t want that to happen to this particular sea creature; he had an identity now, a face, which made him an individual that Kiku couldn’t bring himself to destroy. With that made up in his mind, he set about freeing the merman, who soon began to struggle against him, believing he was going for the kill.  
“I just want to free you,” Kiku assured, using his knife to cut through the ropes binding the captive. Even when he was free though, the merman could not move from where he was, the damage to his tail too great. He looked up at Kiku fearfully. Kiku bit his lip in concentration, trying to think of something else to do. After a few seconds, the sound of shouting came closer, and he recognised that the rest of the town was on the move. He wasn’t going to let them find this merman, so he summoned all his strength and picked up the male, carrying him to a place he knew was safe.

Herakles opened his eyes, looking around blearily. He could smell the blood of his brethren in the air, and knew that the hunt was well and truly on. He struggled against the binds that held him, recognising the net that was wrapped around his fins as a human trap. Unbeknownst to him, each time he tried to flail out of harm’s way, the net dug deeper into his fins and tail, creating deep wounds that in themselves began to bleed. Losing his strength fast, Herakles laid back against the sand, and waited to die. It was then when he heard footsteps, and believed that his end was near. He looked hazily up into the face of his killer to find a young boy, brown eyes wavering with indecisiveness. His mind took the information in, but couldn’t seem to process it properly. The boy crouched, and Herakles decided he had better do something, with or without his brain’s permission. Reacting on instinct, he hissed at the human, who bizarrely started to comfort him; or at least, seemed to, until he brought out a knife, at which point Herakles’s survival instinct came into full force, the merman struggling against the human as much as he could. The action only aggravated his wounds, and seemed to be pointless, as the human assured that he meant no harm, and that he would free him. He seemed to be true to his word, but Herakles was unsure why he would bother. As soon as he was free, the merman tried to escape straight away, but found that he was too injured to move. Expecting the human to kill him now, Herakles braced himself, but the human yet again took pity on him. The staring contest between them lasted only a few seconds, before the human picked him up, and Herakles found he couldn’t stare any longer, feeling suddenly drowsy again. His eyes drooped, and he slept.

Kiku felt like he had no choice but to hide the merman somewhere safe. The only place that came to mind was a sea cave further around the beach. It was hard work carrying the heavy merman all that way, but Kiku was determined. After a while of walking, he reached the cave. The sea waves lapped at the shore within the cave itself, the dry entrance a hole in the rock of the cave formed by a storm a while ago. Heading for the water’s edge, Kiku lowered the creature into the water, allowing the blue liquid to surround him. When the merman was completely submerged, he stood, looking back towards the town. His siblings would be wondering where he was, and to stay any longer would endanger the merman. So, he headed back towards his house.

“Kiku, aru… What happened?” Yao asked worriedly, noticing the blood that coated his brother’s hands. Kiku looked down and then back up at Yao.  
“Some of those bear traps were still in the water… It was a bloodbath,” Kiku half-lied, glaring over at Yong Soo and Li.  
“Oh for God’s sake, we didn’t like, actually use those things, we just skimmed pebbles all afternoon,” Li complained, looking to his cousin to back him up.  
“Yeah! We realised what we were doing when we noticed the other boys in town setting similar traps into the water… Those guys are such jerks, why would we want to be like them?” Yong Soo confirmed.  
“Was it still that messy though? Are the other townspeople that inhumane?” Mei asked, looking over to her brother sadly.  
“They’re more than inhumane… They seemed to be harvesting Merpeople for their scales and meat rather than culling them as a necessity,” Kiku explained.  
“Aiyah… Why do something like that? I can’t see why we can’t just exterminate the creatures humanely,” Yao contributed, and the general feeling among Kiku’s family was one of agreement.  
Kiku himself though, couldn’t help but think back to the merman he had rescued from near certain death, and wonder over whether it was right to kill them at all.

Loukas picked his dagger out of the sand, only metres from where his brother napped every single day. How had one of them not spotted it before? He sighed and headed back to his mother, to tell her that he still couldn’t find Herakles.  
Sadik watched the scene and frowned. He had thrown away that damn thing, sure, but how was he now meant to go in there and tell that family that Herakles wasn’t coming back? He knew he would be in trouble this time. 

“Is there still no sign of him? None at all?” Helene asked, sounding worried for her eldest son’s safety.  
“I… I haven’t found him in any of his regular nap-spots,” Loukas admitted, looking strained.  
“Where is Sadik?” Helene remembered. “Often when Herakles isn’t napping, he’s scrapping with that jerk.”  
It was at that point that Loukas noticed Sadik was close by indeed, seemingly waiting to say something. “Where’s Herakles?” He asked.  
“I don’t know,” Sadik answered defiantly.  
“What did you do?” Helene hissed, instinct telling her that Sadik knew more than he was letting on.  
“Hey, it’s not my fault he swam too close to the shore!” Sadik threw his hands up in defence.  
“….He did what?” Helene scowled, looking hellishly angry at Sadik already.  
“Look, it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know he was gonna get caught in one of those nets!” Sadik defended himself weakly.  
“You still lured him to the coast though,” the female accused.  
“We were only havin’ a race, I didn’t mean fer it to go this far…” Sadik pouted, hoping that Helene would let it drop. Unfortunately for him, she was far too maternal to let such a thing go.  
“You shouldn’t have raced him close to the shore! What were you thinking?! You knew the nets went out today!” She yelled, slapping Sadik across the face, before leaving the safety of the coral, swimming towards the coast swiftly, fear gripping her from her hair down to the end of her tail.  
‘Herakles…’

Herakles woke again to find himself in the water, sheltered within a small sea cave. A look towards the mouth of the cave showed that the hole in the rock was almost too small for him to fit through; it would be a tight squeeze for him to escape. On the other side, the hole was larger, but only accessible by land. It was then that Herakles realised that thoughts of escape were fruitless anyway; the damage to his tail was still not healed, and his arm, although better than his tail, was still injured. Herakles therefore lay still in the water, trying to rest so he could recover- mermen were able to heal faster than humans, after all. As he tried his best to stay as still as possible, his thoughts travelled to the human that had not killed him. Thinking it over with a rational mind, Herakles realised that the man had clearly been unwilling to take life, and as far as he could tell, had saved him. After all, who else on the shore could have brought him here? Herakles had thought that everyone on the land hated merpeople. It seemed like there was one exception. Herakles was instantly intrigued; he wanted to know more about this human.

Kiku left the house early the next morning, armed with only a bucket of fish. He knew in reality he should bring at least some kind of weapon to defend himself with, but the merman was still injured, so surely he posed far less of a threat? That was the reasoning Kiku carried with him at least, as he walked slowly towards the sea cave, bathed in the morning light that sparkled off the water. For a long time, he forgot about the events of the previous day, before he noticed the torn netting lying on the beach. He pulled the woven strips away from the high tide line, to the point where they would never again cause a threat to life, and carried on his way.

As he entered the cave, Kiku noticed the creature still sleeping against a rock, looking serene and at peace. He wondered whether or not to creep closer, leave the fish and run, but before he got a chance, the merman awoke, looking over at him sleepily.  
“…?” He looked confused, seemingly a little on edge.  
“I brought you food…” Kiku replied, offering the fish forward tentatively.  
The merman looked suspicious, and Kiku drew closer, kneeling to his level and placing the bucket at his feet. He took out a fish from the bucket and offered it forwards.  
“Is it poisoned?” The merman asked, sounding more curious than mad, but Kiku still looked shocked. He knew merpeople could charm humans with singing, but he was under the impression that other than that they communicated with guttural sounds alone. It seemed that he was wrong.  
“Ah, n-no, although, it is not cooked,” he replied, now convinced more than ever that he could not do harm to a being that was proving to be increasingly sentient. The killing of these things seemed to be more like a war than an actual cull.  
“Cooked?” The merman repeated, unsure as of how to use the word.  
“Ah, yes… It is when we heat up food to kill the bacteria inside it,” Kiku tried to explain.  
“Oh… We do not cook things.” The creature shrugged, swimming forwards from the rock and towards the sand Kiku kneeled at, taking the fish without another word and eating it raw, even including the head and eyes, until there was nothing left but bare bones.  
“Ah, we do not eat the heads either…” Kiku stated, staring at the merman with wide eyes.  
“What is your name?” The merman asked, changing the subject completely.  
“I am Kiku. Kiku Honda,” the man replied, thinking the question odd, but only being able to reply politely in line with the etiquette his mother had taught him.  
“Herakles,” the creature merely stated in reply.  
“Herakles…” Kiku tested the name, a little surprised that the merman even had one.  
“Yeah…” Herakles nodded.  
“Do you live far away?” Kiku asked, wondering how the merman would ever make his way back to sea. Herakles shook his head.  
“I only live in the coral just beyond the ocean shelf here,” he explained, and Kiku was surprised. As a child, he had sailed out to that coral, had fished in the crystalline waters. He had never seen merpeople there before.  
“Ah, so you’re not all that far away from home then,” Kiku confirmed.  
“What about you? Do you live around here?” Herakles asked.  
“I live in the town up on the cliff… My house is closer to the beach than most, so I suppose I live very close,” Kiku described.  
“Ah, I see… Can you see the sea from where you live?” Herakles asked.  
“I can,” the human replied. “Only on the 1st floor of the house though, the view from the ground floor is blocked out by the other houses.”  
“Floors? I thought you humans had only one floor and that was the earth.” Herakles looked confused yet again.  
“Ah, yes, well, we build artificial floors in the air that we then climb up to… So that we can build our houses upwards as well as across,” Kiku explained.  
“Oh… You cannot just swim upwards like we can,” Herakles remembered. “That makes sense then… Our kind can just dig into rock formations or pieces of coral higher up and then swim to reach the new space, if we want to expand our living area.”  
Kiku nodded, wondering how exactly he had managed to strike up conversation with this creature he was meant to hate. Perhaps it was just curiosity. He certainly felt like he understood Herakles a little more now. And perhaps that was right: he had saved his life after all.

“Kiku! Are you down here?” A voice suddenly emanated throughout the cave, and Kiku leapt to his feet.  
“Ah! I should go… You can keep the fish,” he panicked, running from the space, calling out to Mei, who was searching the nearby beach for her brother, after noticing his absence.  
“I wonder… Who that is…” Herakles wondered, leaning against the sand thoughtfully.

“Kiku, what were you doing in there?” Mei asked as they walked back towards the town later that day.  
“Oh, I was just searching for crabs,” Kiku lied.  
“Really? I thought I had heard a voice,” she continued, suspicious.  
“No… I was alone. It was probably just an echo.” Another lie.  
“If you say so…” Mei didn’t look convinced.  
“Why did you come out here?” Kiku questioned, moving the focus from him temporarily.  
“You’ve been gone all day with no explanation, how could I not?” Mei shot back.  
“Oh, I’m sorry…” Kiku hadn’t realised that he was out that long. But of course, he couldn’t give a real explanation- his family would probably kill Herakles if they found him.  
“Don’t worry about it; I’m sure you were having fun at the time… So I guess time just flew by for you, right?”  
Kiku looked over at her questioningly, but didn’t protest… It worked as an alibi.

“Did you find him?” Loukas asked, looking towards his mother as she made her way back towards the rest of the pod.  
“I only found this…” She mused, holding up a shred of bloodstained netting.  
Loukas grimaced and looked down sadly.  
“I will find whoever did this,” Helene continued, “….And I will destroy them”  
“Mama…” Loukas simply hugged his mother, not really knowing what else to do.

“It seems as though the other people in the town have finally calmed down,” Yao commented that night, as he and Kiku worked together on dinner.  
“Yes… Although, they were quite vicious at their worst,” Kiku stated, trying not to let his brother know his discomfort. But Yao knew him too well.  
“Kiku… You know, I could have gone instead of you. Maybe I will next time. You shouldn’t have to witness that,” he offered, placing a tender hand on the other’s shoulder.  
“I am fine Yao.” Kiku wouldn’t have wanted Yao to go instead: Yao could well have killed Herakles, and it wasn’t like he deserved to witness the bloodbath either.  
“Are you sure? You seem to be a little spaced out tonight,” Yao continued, sceptical.  
“It’s nothing…” Kiku assured.  
“…You know you can always tell me if something’s wrong, right?” Yao considered, with a sincere, caring tone.  
“I know, Yao… But I really am fine,” Kiku reassured, sending a tiny smile his brother’s way.  
Yao nodded, and they returned to cooking.


	3. Chapter 3

“Good morning,” Kiku greeted as he walked through the entrance to the cave the next morning, gazing over the water where Herakles was chewing on another of the fish from the bucket. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was risking coming back here after his siblings seemed so suspicious yesterday, but something in him felt drawn to this place somehow.  
“Who was that person who called for you yesterday?” Herakles immediately asked, not even having looked up at Kiku yet.  
“Ah… That was just my little sister,” Kiku stated, sitting on the sand.  
“Odd… I thought you were a man.” Herakles seemed generally confused, looking over Kiku quizzically.  
“E-excuse me?!”  
“Where I live, I only have a brother, and all the mermen I know only have brothers too. Some of the mermaids have sisters, but they have no brothers. So I thought only females had sisters,” Herakles continued.  
“Oh… Well, it doesn’t work that way here on the land. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters…. And my cousins as well,” Kiku explained.  
“Oh, I see… I only have the one brother, and my mama as well,” Herakles mused.  
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your father?” Kiku ventured.  
Herakles shrugged. “He left and joined another pod. He never did seem to get on with my mama entirely well, and one day they just had a big fight and he left,” he told Kiku.  
“Oh, I’m sorry…” Kiku felt bad for bringing it up, but Herakles seemed not to care.  
“Don’t be… It’s fine. Besides… What about your parents? You don’t mention them at all…”  
“Oh…” Kiku looked down at the sand as he spoke. “My father was lost at sea… And my mother was always quite ill, and one day disease just… Took her.”  
Herakles seemed a little shocked. ‘Lost at sea’ usually only meant one thing…  
“It seems like you have more of a reason to be upset than me,” he shrugged, looking over at Kiku concernedly.  
“Really? I can barely remember my parents, so it doesn’t really bother me,” Kiku stated noncommittally.  
“Who raised you then?” Herakles asked, intrigued.  
“Mostly my older brother… I helped out as soon as I was old enough to, and we carried on like that.”  
“You’re not the oldest?”   
“I’m the second oldest.”  
“Oh…” Herakles seemed to understand better now. “I’m the oldest out of me and my brother, but mama always took care of us, so I’ve never really had to do that sort of thing… I suppose I help with the hunting, but I’ve never had to care for a smaller member of my family before…You are quite amazing for managing that,” he complimented, smiling lazily at Kiku.  
“Well, it’s not too hard, really…” Kiku blushed at the compliment. “Ah, how old are you, Herakles?” he asked, trying to change the subject.  
“How old…?” Herakles queried, again confused.  
“Yes…” Kiku confirmed, trying to find another way of phrasing it. “I was born 19 years ago. What about you Herakles?”  
“Ah…” Herakles looked down. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what a year is… I’m an adult, if that means anything.”  
Kiku nodded. “Okay, so am I… We seem to be similar in age at least…”  
Herakles nodded, seemingly thinking it over a little. “Yes… it’s a little of a coincidence,” he decided.  
Kiku seemed not to agree. “Really? We don’t even know how old you actually are. We could be completely wrong to assume we’re similar in age.”   
“Still… We managed to meet and speak with each other… I’m glad that we got the chance to understand each other a little more. I’ve never spoken to any humans before,” Herakles argued.  
“Yes, I can agree with that,” Kiku agreed.

The sunset of another day shone through the cave’s mouth, and Kiku stood from his place in the sand. “I should be getting home, before my siblings become suspicious…” He declared.  
“Okay…” Herakles nodded, part of him not wanting the human to go. Perhaps he was beginning to get a little… Used to his presence.  
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” Kiku decided, not wanting to leave either, for reasons he could not comprehend.  
Herakles nodded in agreement as Kiku walked back towards his home.

“Like, Kiku’s been gone all day twice in a row now,” Li commented that night over dinner.  
“I wonder what he’s been up to…” Hue muttered, looking to Kiku with only slight interest in her eyes.  
“Ah… I haven’t been doing anything… I was just exploring the beach.” Kiku tried to defend himself, but his siblings didn’t look convinced. Yao however, stood in to help him.  
“He was just checking to see if any merpeople are still floundering on the beach so he can put them out of their misery… Right Kiku?” He stated, fixing Kiku with a look that commanded him to play along.  
“Ah… Yes, that’s what I was doing,” Kiku confirmed, and most of his family accepted this… Except for Yong Soo.  
“Aww, come on Kiku! Why didn’t you take me with you? I’m old enough to look death in the face!” He protested.  
“Aiyah! Yong Soo, it’s bad enough that one of us needs to carry out such a grizzly task! Don’t wish it upon yourself!” Yao interjected.  
“You should just be happy that you’re spared from such things…” Kiku decided, thinking over the last few days. Yong Soo wouldn’t have reacted the same way as him. He might have panicked even. The boy had no idea what he was getting himself into most of the time he said anything. Kiku didn’t want to see his cousin hurt any more than he wanted to see Herakles dead. Both could have happened had Yong Soo gone out instead of him that night.  
“Yeah, I wouldn’t like to be out there watching things die all the time,” Mei seconded, probably just going along with Kiku as usual.  
“Kiku’s right,” Yao destroyed any chance of anybody arguing. “We all do our part in different ways. Most of us by staying home, keeping out of trouble, and taking care of things… Such as the dishes.”  
And so, Yao managed to get all of the chores for the evening completed by the younger siblings, while he followed Kiku upstairs in an attempt to talk to him more.

“You know, you can fool them, but you can’t fool me,” he started, as soon as Kiku reached the relative safety of his room, and the younger’s blood ran cold. Had he really been found out so easily?  
“I can’t?” He repeated, trying to play innocent as long as he could.  
“You can’t,” Yao emphasised. “It’s obvious… Kiku must have a secret girlfriend!” He announced, spreading his hands out as if to make it clear his point was plain to see. Kiku was speechless, unsure of how to react. Part of him wanted to deny it; another saw it as yet another chance to slip away from the truth. He hated lying, but right now Kiku had no choice. Yao made the choice for him however.  
“It’s okay,” he commented, seeing Kiku’s red face. “I promise not to tell anyone.” Kiku breathed a sigh of relief, sitting on his bed. “But…” Yao continued. “I hope you still realise you can tell me. We should be able to tell each other anything, it’s not that embarrassing, is it?” He asked, tilting his head towards Kiku.  
“Oh… Of course it isn’t… This is all just so new to me…” Kiku stuttered, not entirely lying. He had, after all, never saved a merman’s life before, let alone began to form some sort of rapport with one.  
“Good! Then, next time something like this happens, you know you don’t have to hide it from me.” Yao smiled widely, leaving the room to let his brother have his personal thoughts.   
“Ah… They grow up so quickly…” He mused as he headed back to check on the rest of the family, leaving Kiku on the bed, stunned that that had worked. Smiling a little, Kiku stood and moved to the window in his room, looking out over the town and towards the sea, wondering about Herakles and hoping he was still doing well.

“You came back,” Herakles smiled, as Kiku entered the cave the next morning.  
“Of course… I did promise you I would, after all,” Kiku stated, sitting on the sand and watching Herakles eating at the fish at the bottom of the bucket.  
“You did…” Herakles mused, half of a fish still in his hands.  
“What does that taste like?” Kiku asked, curious.  
“Umm… Like fish?” I don’t really know how to describe it to you,” Herakles puzzled.  
“Hmm… But, not all fish is the same. Not even all raw fish. Tuna sushi tastes entirely different to say, herring,” Kiku continued.  
“Sushi?” Herakles was confused by the alien term.  
“Ah… It is a food eaten in my culture… Mostly fish and rice.”  
“I am afraid I’ve never seen rice… But the fish part sounds nice,” Herakles smiled a little. “And so, I suppose different fish does taste rather different… but… I still cannot explain to you what the taste is to me… As you might not taste the same thing if you were to eat it.”  
“Ah, I suppose…” Kiku agreed, slightly reluctantly.

“It is odd… How could I ever be sure that you see what I see, taste what I taste, feel what I feel? Who is to say that you are not sensing the world correctly, and I am simply deluding myself? What if all of this is fake and we’re living in some nightmare reality, and kidding ourselves into believing this made up world is real, just because it spares us from the truth?” Herakles began to philosophise at quite a rate, and Kiku was finding it difficult to keep up.  
“I suppose so Herakles…” He offered. “But surely, this all feels too real to be fake?”  
“How do we know? If this is the only reality we remember, it could be that we are mistaking this for the feeling of things being real,” Herakles countered.  
“Surely everything around us is too complex to be imagined…” Kiku suggested.  
“Perhaps… but then, does that mean that the world is so much more bizarre than imagination? Even the imagination of a being far more powerful than ourselves?”  
“Are you saying that we’re just the imagination of some god-like being?”  
“Can you prove we aren’t, Kiku?”  
“No…” Kiku looked down at the sand. This was making his head hurt.  
“Even if everything seems real and we seem to be in control… Thinking about alternate theories for who we are and why we are here… It’s fascinating.” Herakles smiled.  
Kiku nodded. Even if it was giving him a headache, he couldn’t deny it was an interesting and stimulating conversation.

“Hmm… What about you, Kiku?” Herakles suddenly asked, wondering what Kiku thought about life and philosophy in general.  
“All of this is making my head hurt,” Kiku confessed. “I do wonder though… If the fact that we are able to act for ourselves means that we cannot simply be in someone else’s imagination.”  
“Well…” Herakles thought it over. “Perhaps free will itself is an illusion… Like the idea of destiny… the thought that we might not actually have ever determined anything for ourselves. Our meeting, too, could just be fated to occur…”   
“Perhaps…” Kiku mused. “Do you think we were meant to meet like this, Herakles?”  
“Even if we hadn’t met under these particular circumstances, maybe we would have still met another time, somewhere,” Herakles reasoned.  
“Maybe.” Kiku nodded, as Herakles rolled onto his back, floating in the water.  
“Interesting… I wonder what reality truly is…” The merman mused, quickly falling deep into thought. Kiku watched, and wondered whether he should try to break Herakles from his thoughts. 

He soon found he didn’t need to, as a small meowing caused Herakles to break from his reprieve.  
“What is this?” He asked, looking at the cat which had slunk up beside Kiku.  
“Ah, it is a cat,” Kiku explained, as the cat mewed happily and crept up to Herakles who petted it, amazed.  
“Cats… Are cute,” Herakles decided, enjoying the feel of fur beneath his hand.  
Kiku nodded. “They are,” he agreed, smiling a little.  
“Hmm… Kiku… I have enjoyed spending time with you like this,” Herakles simply stated. “I never realised humans were so interesting.”  
Kiku nodded. “I have enjoyed these days as well.”  
Herakles looked towards the opening of the cave and noticed the setting sun shining through.  
“It looks like it’s about the time you usually go,” he noted.  
Kiku followed Herakles’s gaze and nodded. “It is… I will see you tomorrow, Herakles.”  
“Goodbye, Kiku, see you soon.” Herakles let out a smile as the human rose and exited the cave.

Herakles woke in the middle of the night, feeling hungry. He reached for the bucket of fish to find there was only one left. As he chewed on it, he mused over whether or not it would be rude to ask Kiku tomorrow if there were any more. At the same time, he had to admit he felt healed. He hadn’t ever really considered his healing wounds before, but now he seemed to be well enough to leave. Perhaps he should just go and hunt tomorrow morning before Kiku appeared? It seemed to Herakles to be the best option, so he didn’t end up disappointing the human, who was fast becoming like a friend to him. However, the voice that emanated through the cave at that moment changed everything.  
“Herakles?”  
“Loukas?” The merman asked the darkness, looking around for the source of his brother’s voice.  
“Over here!” The sound of his sibling came from the direction of the smaller opening in the cave, the one partially submerged by the water. Herakles swam over to it, smiling at the face of his brother awaiting him.  
“What are you doing here? H-how did you get in there? I thought you were dead,” his brother stated, reaching out for him through the hole.  
“I was rescued… A human brought me here, into this cave,” Herakles tried to explain.  
“How can you be sure they were rescuing you?” Loukas asked, surprised, “you know what humans are like, they probably want to keep you locked up here to kill later.”  
“Then why would they let me return to health? Why feed me? Why come every day to speak to me?” Herakles couldn’t understand what Loukas meant. Kiku was his friend… Wasn’t he?  
“You could be nothing more than a pet or even a slave to them! They might want to feed you up and then kill you and eat you. There are many stories of humans doing that to creatures on the land! Come on, let’s get you out of there now!” Loukas argued, leaving no room for discussion.  
“Okay…” Herakles reluctantly agreed, gripping his brother’s hands as the younger of the two heaved his older brother out from the small hole in the cave.  
“Mama will be so happy to see you…” Loukas smiled, beginning to lead Herakles home.

“Herakles!” Helene called as she saw her son returning to her, gripping his shoulders and holding him close, not wanting to let go. “What happened to you?”  
“Mama…” Herakles started, “I got stuck in a sea cave. I was injured… But I’m fine now.”  
“Did the humans trap you?” His mother asked, suspicious. Herakles refused to answer, but his brother responded for him.  
“They did. He said he had been carried there by some human.”  
Helene nodded, turning to both of her sons. “This only emphasises that we need to get revenge on the humans now. Come on, both of you. I’ll show you how to fight back,” she stated, swimming off with both of her sons following behind her.

Kiku looked out over the emptiness of the sea cave, slightly confused as to where Herakles could have gone. He had been beginning to consider Herakles a friend… but now, the other had just disappeared, when he promised they would meet again the next day. Part of him wondered whether Herakles was hungry and had gone hunting for more fish. Thinking that it could all have been a misunderstanding, Kiku sat on the sand… And waited.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The merpeople begin to plan their revenge on the humans and Kiku does something reckless. Herakles agrees to meet Kiku again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really like it when China and Japan get along. I know real-life issues make this difficult, but in this AU (since stuff like that doesn't matter), expect lots of Yao being the protective older brother and Kiku appreciating his efforts (even if he finds him a little overbearing).

By the time Kiku gave up and went home, it was already dark, and Kiku had given up hope. Demoralised, he didn’t even look up at Yao as he stared concernedly at him from the doorway of the kitchen, heading straight to his room once he had reached the house. Simple white sheets seemed all too inviting, as Kiku flopped onto his bed, disappointment flooding through him. He closed his eyes, drifting towards sleep, and barely noticed the knock at the door that Yao made to herald his entering (of course, he didn’t pause at the door aside from that, no matter what Kiku had to say about it).  
“Kiku? Is something wrong?” He asked, brown eyes searching Kiku for any signs of distress, taking in his form, curled up on the bed, looking weary and crumpled, with an expertise that came from years of taking care of others. Kiku slowly turned his head to look over at Yao.  
“Yao…” He merely stated, looking a little confused.  
“You know you can tell me, aru… What’s wrong?” His older brother asked, walking straight across from the door to the bed where Kiku lay in the middle of the room, and sitting next to the younger, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder.  
“I was supposed to meet one of my friends today… But he didn’t turn up and left me waiting for the whole day,” Kiku mentioned, sighing a little at the end of his sentence.  
“Oh… Well… Sometimes, people find that important things come up, aru. He probably didn’t mean to upset you, he may have just had to deal with something he needed to do, and couldn’t find a way to contact you…” Yao mentioned  
Kiku nodded. It did make sense: he wasn’t even sure whether Herakles was literate after all, and the only way he could ever have contacted Kiku was by leaving a message in the sand. “I suppose you could be right Yao… I shouldn’t assume it is his fault just because he didn’t tell me he couldn’t make it,” he agreed, starting to look a little less glum.  
Yao nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly, aru! He’ll probably turn up tomorrow and apologise, and say exactly what had happened that had left him unable to meet you,” he assured.  
“I hope so…” Kiku merely stated, still not entirely satisfied, but generally less upset than he had been previously.  
“I’m certain of it,” Yao stated confidently. Kiku nodded, and his brother stood and began to move towards the door before Kiku stopped him.  
“Wait…”  
Yao turned around again, smiling a little. “Yes Kiku?”  
“Thank you,” Kiku admitted, blushing a little.  
Yao practically beamed as he exited the room.

Herakles swam powerfully towards the meeting place his mother had described to him. The pod had decided to begin their planning for ‘revenge’ away from their home in the coral, to prevent the humans from being able to destroy their home, if they were somehow watching. Herakles doubted that they were, but he didn’t argue with his mother’s judgement. At the moment, he was swimming through what appeared to be dull green seaweed, the algae wrapping around his tail and holding him up just a little. Herakles wasn’t fazed though; he knew that the seaweed would break before it could snare him to any serious degree. Sure enough, the long green strings fell from around Herakles’s tail before long, and he carried on without hindrance. His brown hair fanned out behind him, not causing him much difficulty. It could sometimes be annoying, if it managed to get into his eyes, but that tended only to happen when Herakles tried to swim against the current. At the moment, he swam easily, the bubbles in the water flowing past brown hair and green eyes, before breaking against the rugged shoulders, toned chest, and long, blue tail that together made up Herakles’s body. The merman paid them no heed as he drew closer to the agreed meting spot: a clearing in the seaweed, where bare rocks jutted up out of the sand, littering the whole area. Herakles swam into the clearing and looked around, noticed there was nobody else there at that point, and settled down against a rock to rest.

“Hey… Um, Herakles…” Sadik started, swimming up to where the other merman was resting, the bright, flashy red of Sadik’s own tail twitching a little as he came to rest.  
“What is it, jerk?” Herakles asked, instantly on edge.  
“Look… I…” Sadik rubbed at the back of his neck absentmindedly, his webbed hand arching over the whole expanse. “I just wanted ta say… That I didn’t really mean to get ya captured or anythin’ like that… I mean, it was all a bit of fun, right?” He seemed to be deliberately avoiding apologising directly, but Herakles understood what his rival meant well enough.  
“I’m not going to fight with you over it Sadik… Apology accepted, I suppose,” he shrugged, not really in the mood to argue with Sadik at the moment. Besides, if he hadn’t gotten stuck on that beach that day, he would never have met Kiku, who Herakles now considered a friend. Sadik noticed Herakles’s apparent change in attitude.  
“Hey… That’s it? Yer not even going to be all snarky?” He asked, surprised.  
“I’m in a good mood today…” Herakles stated, thinking back to Kiku. Wait… Kiku had said he would be back to meet him tomorrow! And that was yesterday! Herakles’s heart leapt as he pictured Kiku, sitting there all alone.  
“Are ya kidding me? Are ya even the same brat?” Sadik asked, looking Herakles over even as he wondered whether Kiku would now hate him. Surely, if he could find him, and explain? But he would have to do so after the meeting.  
“Herakles… It’s good to see you recovered and here so early,” Helene smiled as she drew closer to the two, the faded green of her magnificent tail still looking beautiful despite her age.  
“Mama… Of course… I should be here, after all,” Herakles replied, wanting to know what his mama planned for the humans. Even if meeting Kiku had given him doubts about whether all humans were evil, he did know some were out to get him, and was hoping to gain some more insight into how to avoid getting captured. A few other merpeople within his pod started to arrive, as his mother spoke again.  
“Yes… You have, after all, had experience first-hand in dealing with humans and in escaping from them… Your experiences could help the rest of us avoid capture, and fight back,” she explained, still smiling at Herakles even as he seemed a little less jubilant, not knowing whether fighting back was really on his list of priorities.  
“Yeah, not many of us can say we’ve escaped from the grasp of the humans,” Loukas attested, swimming up behind his mother, the rich terracotta of his tail swaying a little behind him as he came to rest.  
“Ah, I suppose that is true…” Herakles smiled, not really feeling all that special, but still happy that his family thought so much of him, even if he had done something no more remarkable than leaving a cave which he had been placed in by a man who did little else than turn up every day, talk to him and feed him fish.  
Helene nodded, looking around the scattered rocks and bare sand that made up the clearing. “Well, it seems like everyone is here… Should we begin the meeting?” She decided, calling the other merpeople to attention.  
Herakles, Sadik, and almost everyone else in earshot nodded, and so Helene began to speak loudly, projecting her voice to the gathered pod of merpeople.  
“Alright, so we all already know why we’re here.”  
A few members of the pod looked around at their family members, a little confused, and Helene sighed and began to explain again.  
“The humans’ major attack on us is finished for the year. Now we can counter-attack.”   
“But our charm no longer works on them… The humans have gotten too smart to fall for trickery. How are we supposed to seduce them, pull them under the water?” Came a voice from one of the young, female members of the pod, who was at the back of the gathering, her clearly pretty face completely curious.  
“We shall have to use stealth from now on,” Helene instructed. “We should wait to see a human out on their own, on a boat or swimming in the water or on one of those boards they use to ride the waves… Then, we alarm them with strength and speed, and drag them to their deaths.”   
Everyone gathered around nodded, understanding the tactic. Herakles though, wondered whether it was truly necessary. If they just left the humans alone, would they also stop fighting? The endless cycle of revenge could surely not go on forever.

Up on the surface, Kiku rowed his family’s small dinghy out into the sea, heading for the patch of coral he knew lay beyond the usual limit for swimmers and surfers alike. Was Herakles right? Did merpeople really live there? Part of Kiku wanted to turn around; certainly any creature he met would be far less friendly than Herakles. He was making himself a target. He was putting himself in danger. But still he rowed on. Maybe it was intrigue.

Herakles yawned as the meeting drew to a close. His people had their plan for their revenge on the humans, and were now dispersing, some heading towards the coral that was their home while others headed to the beach to spy on the ‘enemy’. Herakles decided to just head for the surface, wanting to find a rock to go nap on. What he noticed as he drew near though, made him instantly wary. The clear shape of a boat was visible, the oars of the vessel stretching down below the surface itself. Herakles wondered whether he should turn back, when he saw a rock close to the little boat that rose up out of the water. He could watch the human from there, and if it was a woman or a child, someone of little threat… he could sleep in peace.

Kiku looked over the side of the boat nervously, having just seen a shape in the water. Upon noticing the fins of a merman, he ducked into the hull of the boat, hoping he had not been noticed. So there really were merpeople living in the area… How had he not noticed them before? More importantly, what had he been thinking when he decided to come here? To his horror, when he peaked over the side of the boat, the figure was closer. He’d noticed him! Kiku’s eyes fell upon the fishing equipment he’d borrowed from his brother on the proviso he was just going to see if the tuna were biting, and the harpoon Yao had made him take along. He didn’t know if he could use it, even if his life depended on it. Herakles was like a friend to him, and he was a merman. He didn’t even know if he could take a life in the first place. If he could make friends with Herakles, could he reason with any other merperson?  
Kiku never had to wonder this, as a calm voice broke him out of his thoughts.  
“Kiku? Is that you?”  
“Herakles?” Kiku lifted his head from the boat and noticed Herakles was sitting on a rock, only a few metres away.  
“What are you doing here?” Herakles asked, looking worried. “It’s dangerous, you should return to the land…”  
“I was only trying to fish,” Kiku lied. “And I can take care of myself.”  
From his vantage point on the rock, Herakles could see the harpoon nestled in the bottom of the tiny boat. He shook his head at the raven-haired man in disbelief.  
“That? You’d have no time to use that out here… My kind could have you in the water before you had time to reach for a weapon…” He commented, matter-of-factly.  
Kiku’s brown eyes widened, showing a rare glimpse of fear.  
“I’m sorry…” He mouthed hoarsely, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. He really was in trouble, wasn’t he?  
“There’s nothing to apologise for…” Herakles insisted. “But you have to get home now… I’ll escort you back to the beach, my people are unlikely to bother you if they see me here,” he continued, shifting his weight forwards a little against the jagged face of the rock.  
“Okay…” Kiku felt he had no choice to agree.  
“If you were trying to fish for food, I could help you hunt for fish, so you can get home quicker…” Herakles offered, and Kiku shook his head, guilty.  
“I’m not really fishing… I came out here because I remembered what you said about merpeople living in the coral… I wanted to know if it was true,” he admitted.  
“You did?” Herakles pondered, scratching his cheek in puzzlement. “Why would you do that?”   
Kiku shrugged. “You weren’t there yesterday. I was curious whether you’d gone home.”  
“Oh…” Herakles sighed. “Sorry. My brother found me in that cave, and assumed I had been kidnapped. I had to go back to my mother to explain… But my brother told her his side of the story, and now she won’t believe mine…”  
Kiku nodded, understanding now why Herakles had had to leave. “Why didn’t you leave a message though?” He asked, curious.  
“I can’t write in your language,” Herakles simply replied. “There was no way you could have understood anything I would have written in the sand… I am sorry I left so abruptly though.”  
Kiku nodded. “It’s okay Herakles.”  
“That said… You shouldn’t have come all this way just to see me. I’ll spend more time closer to the shore if it would stop you from putting yourself in danger like this,” Herakles suggested, not wanting his friend to be hurt because of him. Kiku blushed a little, but still nodded.  
“Alright then Herakles… Perhaps we should meet at the rocks by the sea cave then?” He continued.  
“That sounds good…” Herakles nodded. “Should we head back to shore now?”  
Kiku nodded, and Herakles leapt from his rock into the water, creating only a small splash due to the grace and ease of his movements. As he resurfaced, now soaked right through, he made a motion for Kiku to follow before starting to swim, close to the surface. Kiku followed in the boat, watching Herakles swim, noticing the muscles in his chest and arms move and stretch to accommodate his pace. Kiku couldn’t help but admire Herakles’s strength- he found it impossible to maintain muscles quite that large, although that might have been down to his size.

As Kiku got close to the shore, Herakles stopped next to Kiku’s boat in order to avoid getting beached. Kiku stopped and turned to face the side of the boat, looking down at Herakles.  
“I’ll see you soon… Please be careful,” Herakles warned Kiku.  
“I will… I’ll see you soon, Herakles,” Kiku replied, waving goodbye as the merman dove beneath the waves and disappeared from view. As soon as he was sure the other was gone, he picked up the oars to the boat and carried on rowing until he reached the shore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Kiku meet up for the first of many times, and set about discussing everything under the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wisdom teeth are often believed to be biologically redundant in humans, and appear to have been designed for when we ate diets far more rich in plants (and plants that weren't domesticated to be easy for us to eat). Since Herakles and merpeople in general have a diet more rich in fish than plants, and are generally better adapted than humans with fewer redundancies left, I can see most merpeople having no wisdom teeth (in fact, a significant portion of humans are now beginning to not grow theirs as the redundancy fades from our own species).
> 
> As for his comments on the taste of people... We taste very similar to pork, supposedly. And I always found pork to be dry and just generally not nice. I think he'd feel the same. 
> 
> Also, Herakles and other merpeople dry out after too long out of the water. At first it can make them feel itchy and uncomfortable. Over long periods of time it can kill them.

When Kiku returned to his house that evening, his brother suspected nothing, assuming that he had had no luck with his fishing. The other merpeople who saw Herakles return from the shore just assumed that he had been on recon. And so, the conversation between them had happened with no repercussions.

The next day, Kiku felt revived. He hadn’t realised how badly it had deflated him to have Herakles disappear on him, even though the merman wasn’t the only friend he had. Yao seemed to notice his better mood, but didn’t say too much to him before Kiku left, heading down the stone path in the village towards the sea, wanting to get to his and Herakles’s agreed meeting place early.

Crystalline blue waves washed over the jagged grey rocks that Kiku was approaching. He searched for a smoother stone that he could sit on easily, and his eyes fell upon one of the larger boulders, fallen from the cliff face in a recent storm. It had been carried quite far out into the sea by the waves, but the top of the rock had been smoothed over and polished by the running water in the process, and the rock was reachable by a small bridge of smaller stones stretched out across the bay. Kiku smiled a little. It was the perfect meeting spot; Herakles could bask on the rock if he wanted, it was easily accessible by sea and by land, it was prominent, and there was enough space for both of them to sit together without being too close. And so, the human hopped across the bridge to the boulder that was to become one of his favourite places over the coming months.

Herakles woke that morning smiling, happy that Kiku wasn’t mad at him for disappearing. He looked at the light filtering into the crimson coral around him and made the decision to go hunting for breakfast. As he swam out of the formation, he noticed his brother, turning his dagger over in his hands, shaking his head. Herakles moved over towards him.  
“Are you okay?” He asked Loukas, tilting his head curiously.  
“How did it end up there…? Right by where you normally sleep,” the younger pondered, placing the sharpened bone into a faded and tattered equipment bag he had slung around his shoulder.  
Herakles considered whether or not to tell the full story before answering.  
“Well… That jerk Sadik had it earlier…” He commented.  
“What? But… How did he have it? And why did he just leave it behind?” His brother asked, confused.  
“That’s why I was racing him,” Herakles explained. “He said he’d give it back if I won. After I got captured… Maybe he thought he would give it back anyway. Maybe he just dumped it to remove any trace of his wrongdoing. I don’t know.”  
Loukas nodded, still seemingly overwhelmed by the new information.  
“Okay… I suppose it doesn’t matter though. You’re back now and safe,” he decided.  
Herakles nodded. “Alright…” He agreed. “So… Should we go hunting now?”  
His brother nodded, and they set off to find some breakfast.

Kiku had been watching the black-headed gulls circling over the sea for about an hour before Herakles turned up. First the birds took off flying into the sky, and then a head surfaced in the distance. Kiku was able to make out brown curly hair from where he sat, and was therefore fairly confident that this was Herakles, here to meet him as he had promised. Herakles looked around for a moment, before his eyes focused on the human sitting up on the rock. At this point, he gave a wave to Kiku, and allowed the human to watch carefully as he drew ever closer. Kiku smiled as he noticed that yes, that definitely was Herakles coming towards him, and he moved aside on the rock to let his friend pull himself up as he started to get closer.  
“Hello Herakles,” Kiku greeted.  
“Hello,” Herakles responded, settling himself properly on the rock. “How have you been, Kiku?”  
“I’ve been fine… Not a lot has happened since yesterday though,” the human answered. “What about you?”  
“I have been… Quite good,” Herakles replied. “I went hunting today, and managed to get quite a few fish…”  
“Your kind hunts for fish to eat?” Kiku asked. He knew of course that they ate fish, but had never really thought about the details of it before.  
“Yes… Well, me and my brother certainly do. We use spears and daggers, and we can also overwhelm the fish with speed, although without some sort of weapon, it can be hard to kill them. It also makes things easier if you’re in a group, that’s why I take my brother along with me…” Herakles explained.  
“I see… We usually lure fish onto hooks using some sort of bait, or else we catch them in large nets…” Kiku compared.  
“Yes… I know about the nets,” Herakles replied darkly. “As for the hooks… A system like that would not work for us. We are too easily noticed by fish, and we would have nothing to hang the hooks on anyway” he mused about it a little. “Luring… Is something my kind prefer to do with humans.”  
Kiku paled completely. “W-with humans?” He stuttered, feeling decidedly faint.  
“Yes… We would either charm them, and then lure them into the water to drown, or we would use speed and strength to pull them off of boats or those little board things they have…” Herakles told his human friend, wrapping his tail around the rock slightly as he spoke, the blue of it appearing just a little more vibrant than the sea at that point in time. Kiku hardly noticed.  
“Y-you would… You…” He stammered, seemingly completely brain dead with fear.  
“Kiku?” Herakles asked, waving a webbed hand in front of the human. “Are you okay?”  
“Uhh… I-I-I…” Kiku still seemed to be making no sense to the merman.  
“Are you okay…?” Herakles asked, confused, before it finally seemed to slot into place for him. “Oh… You don’t think I mean you… Do you?” He suggested, tilting his head curiously.  
“Ah… Y-you don’t mean me?” Kiku asked, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.  
“No… I was only referring to the types of methods my kind often use when hunting for humans,” Herakles stated matter-of-factly. “My mama often uses them, but personally, I think human tastes dry and flavourless. I would much prefer fish.”  
“Err…” Kiku wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, but he was relieved that he seemed to be off the menu, at least for now.  
“Still… My mama recently spelled out to the rest of the pod our plan for getting revenge on your kind for their attack on us a few days ago… So be careful Kiku. Bear what I said in mind… Or you might end up as dinner after all,” Herakles considered. “Especially since she blames you for me getting separated from the pod for a while…”  
Kiku nodded, taking it in for a moment. He felt scared. Of course he felt scared. But he realised now that Herakles wasn’t trying to scare him. He was trying to prepare him. There was a war going on.  
“Okay,” he agreed, nodding.  
“Good,” Herakles smiled, his eyes lighting up as he continued to speak. “What about you, Kiku? What do you prefer to eat?”  
“Hmm…” Kiku thought it over for a while. “Well… I do also like fish, as well as seaweed… And boiled rice… And soy sauce… And of cause, it must all be salted,” he decided after a while.  
“Seaweed?” Herakles seemed a little bemused. “Are your kind not carnivores?”  
“Ah, no, our teeth are adapted so we can eat almost anything,” Kiku tried to explain. “So we do eat a lot of different things… We eat meat, fish, and also vegetables we grow ourselves… For example, rice is grown in shallow water that we flood our fields with…”  
“You can grow plants? We haven’t found a way to grow them at will in the sea… Mostly because the seeds drift away in the current, and grow only where they land… Burying them in the sediment rarely seems to work. Perhaps nature has greater sway over the sea than the land…” Herakles pondered. “And meat? Humans are meat, aren’t they?” He tried to compare.  
“Uhh… Y-yes.” Instantly Kiku was nervous again. “That is true… Meat comes from any animal that isn’t a fish generally…”  
“True… Humans do taste different to fish… So I assume you eat the other creatures on the land then? Do you hunt them like we hunt fish?” He queried.  
“Sometimes we do, but we also domesticate them… That means we keep them in little pens and feed them and keep them happy, and then milk them and cut their wool to make clothes out of, and then when they get old we kill them and eat them,” Kiku told Herakles.  
Herakles’s mind went back to the things Loukas had told him about the creatures on the land and what the humans did to them. “So… You actually care for them? You don’t just fatten them up to kill them? Don’t you find it hard to eat animals that you cared for so much?” He asked  
“Of course we care… We want the animals to be able to live good lives as well, even if they are shorter than ours… And perhaps it does make it hard sometimes to kill them, but we have to eat,” Kiku rationalised.  
“You do, I understand that,” Herakles nodded. “I have to admit, I never realised you humans could care, before you saved me. My family only ever told me tales of human brutality.”  
“Hmm… My family only ever said how your kind was trying to eradicate ours…. And how you needed to be wiped out before we could ever find peace,” Kiku told.  
“It would appear that we have both been misled then,” Herakles stated.  
“Yes… Perhaps if the rest of both our kinds could see this, we could make them understand,” Kiku continued, agreeing wholeheartedly with his friend.  
Herakles nodded sadly. “It would be good… but I don’t think the world works like that.”  
There was silence for a few seconds before Herakles decided to change the subject.  
“What do your teeth look like Kiku?” He asked. “I only see glimpses of them when you talk. Let me see them…” He mused, hands moving towards Kiku’s mouth.  
“Ah! W-what are you doing?” Kiku blushed bright red at the invasion of his personal space.  
“I just want to see your teeth…” Herakles seemed completely focused on his task, prying Kiku’s lips apart even as the man tried to struggle against him.   
“W-well, you could have just asked, rather than just forcing your hand into my mouth,” Kiku complained, pulling away from Herakles, but opening his mouth to show Herakles his teeth anyway.  
“Hmm… I see…” Herakles smiled. “Your teeth aren’t that dissimilar to mine.” He opened his mouth for Kiku to prove his point, and the human flinched a little. Herakles’s canines were longer and sharper than his own, and the points of his molars were also sharp rather than blunt. He was also missing wisdom teeth. It was obvious he was generally better adapted to his diet than Kiku.  
“We can eat seaweed, but we generally prefer fish… We eat plant material more as a snack than anything,” he continued.  
Kiku nodded. “We eat a more balanced diet than that… Or, at least, that is what is meant to be healthy for us. Apparently, we can get heart attacks if we eat too much meat all the time. Fish is less damaging to us,” he compared.  
“I see…” Herakles turned his head to the side. “Personally, I prefer fish anyway, but I can remember others in the pod saying that too much meat was fattening.”  
Kiku nodded, and Herakles smiled again, stretching and lying back on the rock, his tail uncurling and dipping down into the water, as the length of his tail was too great for him to fit fully on the rock. Kiku watched the merman stretch out almost fully, close his eyes and drift off within the space of only a couple of minutes.  
“Herakles…?” He asked, leaning over the merman, a little confused as to how Herakles managed to fall asleep just like that. The merman stayed sleeping. Kiku smiled, and let Herakles sleep, closing his eyes and soaking in the sea breeze. 

Hours passed before Herakles awoke. Kiku had leaned forward on the rock in this time, and was now dipping his feet in the water before them, his shoes lying next to him on the rock. The merman sat up, hauling his tail out of the water, and looked over at his friend.  
“How are you, Kiku?” He asked suddenly, causing the man to leap up in surprise.  
“Ah, it’s just you Herakles,” he breathed in relief. “I’ve been fine… Did you sleep well?”  
Herakles nodded. “I am getting a little itchy now though,” he decided.  
“Itchy?” Kiku didn’t completely understand why Herakles could be itchy.  
“That’s what happens to me when I start to dry out…” Herakles explained.  
“Okay… So, you should probably go now, shouldn’t you?” Kiku assumed.  
Herakles nodded. “Yes… I should go… But I’ll be back again tomorrow, Kiku.”  
Kiku nodded. “Okay, Herakles… I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
He skipped over the rocks back home, as Herakles dove into the sea and swam off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles meets a cat and still has a lot to learn about politeness when around humans.

By the time Kiku made it to the rock the next morning, Herakles was already there, chewing on a fish that seemed recently dead, its scales still shiny and its gills still a healthy red.   
“Good morning,” the merman smiled a little at Kiku as he sat down on the polished surface.  
“Hello Herakles,” Kiku replied, smiling back at his friend as he continued to devour the fish before him. Kiku couldn’t help but cringe a little as he saw Herakles nonchalantly eat the head of the fish, stripping the creature completely to bones. Herakles noticed his discomfort.  
“Do your kind not eat fish this way?” He asked, and Kiku shook his head violently.  
“No… We do not eat the heads… Or the innards… Of fish,” he explained. Herakles looked a little surprised.  
“Really? But those parts are the most nutritious… Particularly fish eyes. They’re a good source of moisture too... My kind don’t really need it, but yours…” He looked Kiku up and down. “You have to drink from time to time, don’t you?”  
“Eh… We do… But I’d rather get water from somewhere else than inside another animal.”   
Herakles shrugged. “It’s the only way my kind can get anything to drink…” He mused.  
“Ah, I see…” Kiku looked just slightly ill at the thought. As he tried to think of something else, he heard a small noise nearby, and looked to the shore to see a short haired, grey cat grooming itself.  
“Cute…” Herakles beamed almost immediately at the sight of the animal.  
“You really like cats, don’t you?” Kiku assumed.  
“Yes…” Herakles still smiled. “Do you keep them, Kiku?” His face suddenly turned to one of fear. “Do you eat them?”  
“Ah, no… We don’t eat cats. They are our pets. We keep them with us because they are cute and they can be friendly, and so they provide good companions.”  
“Cats… Are your friends?” Herakles tried to figure out what Kiku could have meant.  
“Well, I suppose they count as friends, yes,” Kiku confirmed, glad that Herakles at least seemed to have basic understanding of the concept.  
“What… Do cats eat?” Herakles asked, curious as usual.  
“Um… They often eat small, furry animals such as mice or rabbits that they hunt… But they also like fish… They use their sharp claws to pull them from the water where they suffocate,” Kiku described.  
“Hmm…” Herakles watched the cat for a while, one webbed hand moving slowly back into the worn shoulder-bag he had brought along, slowly putting the bones of the previous fish away and pulling out a fresh fish and a dagger. Herakles cut a piece from the fish and held it out to the cat.  
“It will eat this? It doesn’t have to be cooked?” He asked Kiku.  
“Ah, it is fine like that… Cats like fish the same way that you do.” Kiku nodded.  
“I see…” Herakles focused strongly on the cat, staring into its eyes. The feline didn’t move from its spot, although it did look up at Herakles.  
“Stay still. Look at it but not into its eyes. That just makes them angry unless they trust you,” Kiku tried to suggest, guiding Herakles in the correct way to approach a strange animal. Herakles nodded, and stayed as still as he could, and eventually, the cat took notice, ears pricking up as it noticed the fish in front of it. Slowly but agilely, the cat climbed up onto the rock pathway leading to Herakles and Kiku’s meeting place and began to make its way towards Herakles and the fish. As it got close, Herakles lowered the fish piece down to its level and the cat sniffed it a little before opening its mouth wide, showing a long row of long, pointed canine teeth and shrunken incisors. The cat closed its jaws around the edge of the piece and pulled it from Herakles’s hand, dragging it to the level of the small rock it now stood on while it devoured the morsel. Herakles smiled and dug his own teeth into the rest of the fish in the meantime.  
“They seem to be proud animals...” Herakles noticed, continuing to eat the fish.  
“They are… Very proud. You have to get close to them before they begin to trust you,” Kiku instructed, watching the cat continue to eat the fish.  
“I like them, despite that… It is a good trait for an animal to have,” Herakles commented, smiling as the cat finished his meal. The merman put his dagger away in the bag he had brought with him, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Kiku.

“Where did you get a bag like this?” He asked, hands moving to caress the cloth curiously.  
“My mother took it… From a human,” Herakles replied, unapologetically. “She had already killed him, so the others in the pod sorted through his things and kept them… I fix it with cloth that we also take from dead humans.” He took another bite out of the fish while he spoke, ripping the flesh with his sharp teeth.  
Kiku looked mildly creeped out. “You… Took that from a dead man?” He shivered a little.  
Herakles nodded, seemingly a little surprised as to the human’s reaction until he remembered Kiku’s uneasiness with talking about the murder of his own kind.  
“Oh… I’m sorry Kiku. I forgot that it’s not polite to discuss killing humans when you’re speaking to one. I just… Am so used to talking to you, it is as if I am back with my family… my manners must have slipped,” he apologised, looking over to Kiku as he watched for signs of the human relaxing.  
“Ah… It’s… okay…” Kiku tried to say, but Herakles wasn’t convinced.  
“Are you sure…?” He asked, trying to figure out why Kiku still looked afraid… he wondered if the same tactics he used to calm his brother down when he was scared would help.  
“Kiku… Do you want a hug?” He asked, extending his arms out, half a dead fish still flopping lifeless in one hand.  
Kiku turned completely red, and shook his head rapidly.  
“E-eh… N-no… I am fine Herakles,” he stuttered, looking embarrassed. Herakles looked confusedly at Kiku, unsure as to what was wrong.  
“Are you sure…? You look afraid... Usually, I give family members hugs when they seem scared…” He explained, tilting his head to the side as he spoke.  
“Oh… W-well… You’re not supposed to do things like that with people who aren’t family…” Kiku replied, slowly seeming to become less embarrassed about the situation.  
“Really? I guess you have a point… But friends are like family, aren’t they? And you are my friend… I thought it would be okay if I treated you like I treat my brother,” Herakles continued, wanting Kiku to understand where he was coming from.  
“Oh…” Kiku blushed again, looking away. “I’m sorry. I just… Respect my personal space,” he admitted.  
“Hmm…” Herakles thought about it for a while. “It’s okay… I don’t mind you wanting not to be touched… It just seemed strange at first.”  
Kiku nodded. “It is fine, Herakles… We already knew we have differences in values and culture…” He assured his friend.  
Herakles nodded, looking out over the ocean, suddenly deep in thought. As his mind wandered elsewhere, he absentmindedly ate the remaining fish.

“Hmm… Do you want to… Go for a swim?” He asked suddenly.  
“W-won’t the rest of your kind assume that I’m trying to hurt you, or that I’m some sort of meal?” The human jumped up at the suggestion, back on edge.  
“Not really… the rest of the pod is out at sea, trying to drag humans out of the boats that they take beyond the reef for recreation or to catch fish on those lines with hooks on them that you spoke of yesterday… They would have no reason to come to the shore like this. They assume I am simply watching out for backup, making sure that the humans out there cannot get help…” Herakles explained, smiling a little at Kiku.  
“Oh…” Said human shivered a little at the suggestion that his kind was out there dying. He tried to focus on the fact that that made him, and likely Herakles, safe.  
“So we can swim, if you want to… I’ll keep an eye out just in case,” Herakles continued, trying to come up with ways to keep Kiku safe.  
“Ah… but my clothes would get waterlogged and drag me down,” Kiku pointed out.  
“Take them off,” Herakles suggested, which brought on more blushing from Kiku.  
“W-what? I can’t do that! What if people see me?” He exclaimed, crimson with embarrassment at the mere thought.  
“Oh… How does your kind ever swim then?” Herakles asked, curious as to how Kiku got around these problems.  
“Well… We have special clothes that we wear when we swim… But I’m not wearing them,” Kiku stated.  
“Hmm… Okay. I understand,” Herakles looked a little exasperated. “Can we swim tomorrow, then?” he asked, looking hopeful.  
“I… I can’t come out here tomorrow. I promised my friends on the land I’d spend time with them.” Kiku sighed, not wanting to disappoint his new friend. Herakles seemed to understand completely though.  
“I see… Then we can just do it the day after. There might be more merpeople around tomorrow anyway; they tend not to go out to hunt on two days in a row,” he reasoned.  
Kiku nodded. “That seems fair… I’ll meet you back here the day after tomorrow then,” he agreed.  
“Are you sure you can make it then, definitely? And with all the special clothes you need?” Herakles asked, just to be sure.  
Kiku nodded. “Definitely.”  
“Then promise me? The same way you make promises to your other friends?” The merman asked, wondering if the man was usually good to his word.  
“Okay.” Kiku held out his little finger to Herakles.  
“What is that for?” He asked, confused yet again.  
“It’s just the way we make promises on the land… Give me your little finger for a moment,” Kiku commanded, and Herakles obeyed, placing the bones of the second fish into his bag before stretching his hand towards Kiku, who wrapped their little fingers together (even though the webbing on Herakles’s hand made it harder than it usually would have been).  
“Okay, then it’s a promise,” Kiku finalised. “I’ll see you the day after tomorrow, Herakles.” The human turned to leave after speaking, while Herakles stayed sat on the rock, staring at his little finger in confusion.  
“Promises… Are made with fingers?” He mused, unable to figure it out.

“Herakles!” Called Helene as her son returned to the rest of the pod that night. “Good work… The humans were completely helpless. Obviously there was no sign of help?”  
Herakles nodded. “There were barely any humans even close to the shore, mama,” he described, deliberately leaving Kiku out.  
“Good…” She smiled, looking over at him, and he knew she had more to say.  
“What is it mama?” He asked, looking over her, trying to figure out what she wanted from him.  
“I know human isn’t your favourite food, Herakles…” She started, and the merman’s stomach dropped as she continued. “But I think it’s high time you made another kill.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even good people do bad things sometimes. Merpeople are no different from us in that regard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a little violence in this chapter again. It is bloodless this time, but I still kinda found it a little disturbing to write. I know I have a low tolerance for violence, but still thought it was good to warn.
> 
> The description of guns being fired underwater was supplied (in words that weren't as pretty), by my physicist brother. It does, apparently, depend a little on the gun being fired.
> 
> After this chapter, the story starts to pick up and more things happen. So in that sense it's a sort of turning point.

Kiku headed away from the sea as he walked towards Feliciano’s house, which was closer to the centre of town. Overall, the place where Kiku lived was small and quaint, so it was only a few hundred metres from his house to the spacious, sunbathed plaza in the middle of the settlement, which had multiple roads from it, leading to various places in the town. On Sundays, this central circle of stone was the site of the local market. Today though, there was nothing except for the tables set out by the local café and the fountain in the middle of the area. Crossing past the fountain, Kiku stared into the water, noticing the coins that other villagers had thrown there, hoping to gain luck or fulfil wishes. Yao had always encouraged him to toss money into the water in the hope that it would cause wishes to come true, but Kiku was always more careful than that with money, and hated to waste it on anything he didn’t think was entirely necessary or valuable. Feliciano, on the other hand…  
Making his way to the other end of the plaza, Kiku took the road straight ahead of him, which led down a winding track which ultimately finished in the church at the extreme end of town. Three quarters of the way towards the building, a turning revealed itself on the right. Venturing down it, Kiku found himself on a cobbled road, along which there were several small cottages. Feliciano lived on this road. In fact, he was standing in the garden, watering the violets, as Kiku approached.   
“Hey Kiku! We’re meant to be hanging out, right? I’ll just finish up here, and then we can go,” he chirped as soon as he saw his friend, almost falling over with the over the top wave he sent his way.  
“Ah, okay Feli… Don’t feel like you have to rush though, we’re not in a hurry,” Kiku assured, deciding to wait at the front gate while Feliciano sped inside, dropping his watering can and shouting something garbled to his brother before escaping through the door, skipping past the garden gate and running into Kiku in his haste. The Asian boy stiffened a little.

Feliciano was taller than Kiku by a couple of inches, and was known for being eternally friendly, even to the point where he was overbearing with his affection in the eyes of someone more reserved like Kiku. His shining, light brown eyes betrayed every emotion that passed across his face, and his russet hair, which almost seemed red in the sun, hung about his face randomly, save for the curl sticking out of the left side of his head, which seemed to float as if it had a mind of his own.  
“Ah, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you like that Kiku!” Feli apologised, smiling a little when Kiku relaxed.  
“It is fine, Feli… I saw that you didn’t mean it,” he forgave, deciding to take a few steps away even still.  
“Okay then… Shall we go get Ludwig now?” Feliciano enquired, and Kiku nodded, shaking his head in amusement as Feliciano’s whole face lit up and the boy almost seemed to dance down the street, laughing with all the carefreeness of a child. He didn’t wait for Kiku to catch up with him (he knew the smaller would always manage to keep pace regardless), and instead turned towards the Church at the end of the road, carrying on until he reached the simple but pretty bell tower within its own stone clearing, marking it out as important. Not stopping to admire the structure, he turned his attention to the small track leading from the side of the square the church was situated in. It was deeply in need of repair, having not even been paved. Kiku and Feli knew it as the quickest shortcut to Ludwig’s house that didn’t involve having to go back to the middle of town. The Asian hurried up to meet the hyper Italian, who had paused at the beginning of the track.  
“Oh, Kiku, you caught up,” he grinned, running down the dirt path as soon as Kiku nodded the affirmative. The Asian sighed at the haste, immediately setting off after his friend, following him 300 yards until Feli hopped a fence and Kiku followed, climbing to the other side, where another road stretched before them. Ludwig lived just a couple of houses away, his house seeming cleaner than the others even from the outside.  
“Ludwig!” Feli called, skipping up to the door and knocking loudly. “Are you ready yet?”  
The door opened almost immediately, and tall, intimidating Ludwig stepped straight out and locked the door behind him.  
“Of course I’m ready Feliciano,” he sighed. “Why wouldn’t I be on time? You, on the other hand, are 2 minutes late.”  
Ludwig was almost nothing like Feliciano: while the latter would quite happily sleep the day away and lived almost spontaneously, everything Ludwig did ran to a schedule that he followed to a T. Even his appearance looked different to Feliciano; icy blue eyes and perfectly slicked back blond hair, which seemed to have not a strand out of place.  
Of course, being the opposite of him, Feliciano failed to understand why Ludwig was so annoyed with him.  
“Aww, but Ludwig! I was only watering my garden, we tried to make it here on time,” he whined, even though Ludwig dropped the subject and moved on.  
“Anyway, we should go now.” The tall man decided  
Kiku nodded. “Alright then,” he agreed, beginning to walk back towards the town centre, Ludwig following in a brisk walk.  
“Ah! Wait up guys!” Feli called after them, running to catch up to his more serious friends.

“Well, how have you two been?” Ludwig asked, once they were all sitting down on the sea wall, Feliciano already having attempted to flirt with two women, and Ludwig having already dragged him away.  
“Oh, I’ve been great!” Feliciano exclaimed. “I’ve seen lots of pretty girls, and Lovi even got a chance to start flirting, even though usually he’s a little grumpy whenever we go out but the girls still love him anyway and boy does he know it, although this time he actually only seemed to attract this Spanish guy and I never even realised Lovi was into men, and he swears he isn’t, but for a guy he was really pretty, and I could forgive him if he decided that was just too good to pass up anyway even if he is denying it because I bet that in reality he’s…”  
Ludwig covered Feliciano’s mouth before he made things even more awkward then they already were by ranting on about his older brother’s love interests.  
“That’s nice Feliciano,” he assured. “Kiku, how have you been?”  
Feliciano seemed eager to change the subject too. “Yeah Kiku! Your cousin said that you’ve been going to the beach to meet someone in secret every day! Tell me, are you in love? Is she pretty?” His eyes lit up as he rambled on about his favourite types of girl.  
“Ah, Feli… I…” Kiku didn’t know what to say. He knew he couldn’t tell his friends about Herakles, but how else was he meant to set the record straight? He wasn’t dating anyone, and he certainly wasn’t into any of the ‘types’ that his friend was listing off. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been attracted to women before… Just that Feliciano didn’t understand his likes at all (he far preferred 2D women). Unfortunately, the Italian seemed to take his hesitation to answer in a completely different way than intended by Kiku.  
“Oh! How silly of me, Kiku bats for both teams, right? So you could have been out there with a cute boy you feel embarrassed to tell us about?”  
Kiku felt like screaming with frustration, but he still kept some of his composure, only looking a little flustered.  
“Eh…? N-no, Feli, really, I…” Ludwig seemed to understand what was plaguing him though.  
“Feliciano, enough,” he stepped in. “Kiku clearly isn’t comfortable talking about it. I’m sure he’d gladly tell you if he was, but for now you’ll just have to let it drop.”  
Feliciano pouted again, but Kiku recovered, glad Ludwig at least seemed to get that he wasn’t happy to talk.

“Other than that Kiku, have you been well?” He asked, wanting to steer the conversation out of relationships and other things he didn’t truly understand.  
“I have been good Ludwig… Pochi spent half an hour yesterday chasing a butterfly, and Tama ate half a tuna out of the fridge while Yao wasn’t looking. Naturally he’s now being watched far more closely,” Kiku carried on, smiling at the thought of his pets.  
“I see… my dogs would never get away with something like that… I did not raise them to want food outside of their feeding times, and as I stick them to the schedule so rigidly, they never get a chance to be hungry enough to steal food,” Ludwig compared. Their conversation ended up drawing in Feliciano, who never kept quiet for long.   
“Oh! My kitty eats whenever he wants; I would never keep him hungry like that.”  
Ludwig sighed. “Your cat must be a pig if it eats so much. Pets will always eat the food you give them; it’s cruelty, not kindness if you feed them too much.”  
Feliciano seemed deflated. “Aww… but he loves pasta…”  
“Cats are not meant to eat pasta!” Ludwig fumed. “Are you trying to make him sick?”  
“I’m sorry!” The smaller squeaked, trying to hide behind Kiku.  
“Ah, Feli… Personal space…” Kiku complained, not liking the way Feli’s hands were gripping his shoulders.  
“Feliciano… I’m not mad at you; I’m just annoyed that you seem to be so oblivious to how much damage you could be causing to your pets. Please, in future, think about how their health could be affected. Cats are carnivores, Feliciano, they can’t eat carbohydrates such as pasta without being sick, even if they seem to like your pasta because of the meat that’s in it,” Ludwig backtracked, not wanting his friend to feel uncomfortable.  
“Oh! So can I give him the sauce without the pasta?” He asked, looking hopeful.  
“I guess there’s no problem with it… At least, not that I can see, but I’m not a vet,” Ludwig reasoned.  
“Yay!” Feliciano grinned from ear to ear.

“Ludwig, how have you been? I don’t think we got around to you telling us,” Kiku inquired.  
“Well, I have been fine, I suppose… My brother has been causing problems with his partying; keeping the neighbours up, causing a mess that I have to clean up… Lying around the house hung-over the next morning… But I myself have found that things have been going well. It’s quite nice to sit and read with the dogs by my feet while Gilbert is out with his friends,” Ludwig described.  
“It sounds great, Ludwig…” Feliciano mused, seemingly lost in thought. “Ah! I’ll have to have you two over for dinner soon! I haven’t even had the chance to show either of you the new paintings I’ve done since the last time you visited my house!” He realised as his thoughts came to fruition, smiling at the thought of spending time with his friends.  
“It would be nice Feli… We don’t get enough of a chance to spend time together, sometimes…” Kiku agreed.  
“Yes… it would be nice,” Ludwig attested, thinking that it would be good to relax for once in a while at Feli’s house. Feliciano smiled even wider, babbling on about the plans the three were to make for the next time they met.

Herakles didn’t look behind him as he swam with great speed towards the boat. He knew his brother had his back and besides, this was important. He couldn’t stop, not even for a minute. The people in the boat his group had tracked down were laying mines into the sea in order to disrupt their hunting. It was a deliberate attempt to destroy them. Herakles knew he had to act to save himself and his family.  
‘But what if they feel threatened? Maybe if you reasoned with them, they would be just like Kiku…’ A voice in the back of his head warned. For the moment, Herakles moved it aside. He was getting close to the boat now, and there was no time for him to question the morality of his group. They all had to stay unwavering in resolve to survive.  
“Herakles, are you ready?” Asked one of the other mermen in the group. Herakles nodded. It was now or never. Swimming at full speed, Herakles slammed himself into the side of the boat, two or three others joining him. The vessel rocked- it wasn’t really built to be that sturdy- and a couple of the other merpeople present took this as their chance to leap out of the water, tackling the humans inside the boat and dragging them down into the water while they were distracted. The men tried to struggle, but were dragged deeper below the surface, where they would inevitably drown. Herakles watched, wondering what it was to drown. How could something as mundane as water kill?  
“Herakles, don’t get all philosophical on us!” Loukas shouted, snapping him back into reality. Most of the merpeople in their group had already disappeared after the humans, hoping to scavenge what they could from the bodies, but Herakles still didn’t feel at ease… Something was wrong.

As he looked around, his eyes fell on one more human, holding his breath against the flow of the water. He must have escaped the boat before his fellows attacked, and had only now ventured below to assess the threat. His hand held a gun of some kind, and although Herakles wasn’t sure how well those things worked underwater, he was still wary. He hissed at the human, getting ready to attack if the human did. The man pulled the trigger. Herakles dove down rapidly, avoiding the path of the bullet, which only just reached the space Herakles had been occupying before stopping entirely and sinking to the bottom of the sea at a leisurely pace. Herakles by this point was already moving forwards towards the man, who seemed shocked, and aimed his weapon again in preparation to fire, only to find that the water had by now filled the barrel of the gun, seizing up the parts and jamming the mechanism. Panicking, the human reached for a dagger by his side… But before he could grab the weapon, Herakles had grabbed him. One hand tightened around the human’s throat for good measure as with a chocked scream the man was dragged deep beneath the surface. Herakles ignored the struggling of the man he had trapped as he stripped the human's dagger from his side and threw it back to Loukas who held it closely, not wanting the dying man to have any chance to hurt his brother. It was at this point that the first taste of regret passed Herakles’s mind, as he noticed the appearance of the man whose struggles were growing weak. This man had black hair too. The merman shrugged it off, trying to keep any thoughts of Kiku far from his mind as the thrashing of the human ceased.   
“Is he dead yet?” Loukas asked, drawing up beside him. Herakles nodded.  
“Great, let’s see if he has anything interesting besides the dagger,” his brother decided, taking a moment to rifle the human’s pockets, shaking his head when he found nothing. “Oh well. Should we sink the boat?” He asked, looking up to the surface thoughtfully.  
“We should make sure those mines won’t go off first… Perhaps discard them on the rocks or beach, or explode them somewhere they can’t do harm… Maybe we could even destroy the boat with them inside,” Herakles considered, his mind blank and trying to focus only on the mission at hand.  
“Okay, I’ll get the others to join me with that; you can carry that corpse back to the rest of the pod… We’re probably gonna eat well these next few days,” Loukas agreed, swimming off towards the now empty boat while Herakles returned to his pod, the dead body of the human lying limp in his hands, and his heart on the ocean floor.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku and Herakles go swimming and Herakles appears to get some new feelings. But both communities are on high alert, and anything could happen.

The next day, the whole town seemed to be in a state of high alert. Kiku had slept in until 8 or 9, by which point his siblings were all already awake. He rose and dressed straight away, choosing a more westernised outfit of blue trousers and a plain white, short sleeved t-shirt for ease of removal, and making sure to wear his swimming shorts on under his regular clothes. Once he was fully dressed he headed out into the rest of the house for breakfast, where he was met by Yao, who looked decidedly worried.  
“Kiku…” He started, but then stopped, unsure.   
“What is it?” His brother asked, wondering what Yao was worried about.  
“There were murders out at sea yesterday… Please be careful today. I know you want to go swimming, but I think you should stay close to the shore,” he warned. Kiku thought it over; it certainly made sense, although he had Herakles to protect him… Right? The merman certainly meant Kiku no harm, and he was unsure whether he actually meant harm to any human. Still, he put Yao at rest.  
“It is fine Yao… I will make sure to stay within sight of the shore at all times,” he decided, not wanting his brother to be concerned about him.   
“Alright then, aru… But be back by sunset, I’m not taking any chances!” Yao agreed, letting Kiku go for breakfast.

Kiku climbed over the rocks, trying to get to the meeting place as quickly as possible. In his hand was clutched a white towel, which he was hoping he could keep on the rock and therefore dry (well, relatively), and he wanted to get it to the relative safety of the rock before it could get drenched by the spray which was high enough to completely soak the smaller stones he was forced to walk across. He just about managed this task, sitting on the rock with a damp, but still useable towel, and relaxed a little, settling down to wait for Herakles.

Herakles meanwhile, had a heavy heart. His whole pod, including himself, had feasted on the humans killed yesterday, and he hoped the smell wouldn’t linger on his breath and make Kiku afraid. He hoped that Kiku would never notice that it had been he who had killed those men. And he felt guilty about keeping the truth from his friend, about not telling him that yes, he sometimes did have no choice but to kill people. Kiku would understand, right? But part of him felt bad for having fun with Kiku so soon after he had ended another of his kind. And was he putting Kiku in danger? The human was far more breakable than he thought he was after all. Herakles didn’t know what to do. There was also another feeling plaguing Herakles: a small but growing desire to protect his friend at all costs. Herakles put it down to guilt and moved on. He was swimming towards the surface: after all, he had a promise to keep.

Kiku had been waiting for half an hour before Herakles arrived. The merman looked hesitant when surfacing, but smiled when he saw Kiku.  
“Hello,” he greeted, hauling himself up onto the rock, and looking over his friend’s appearance, his look becoming quizzical.   
“Your water clothes look no different from your ordinary ones,” he pondered, completely confused.  
“Ah… Well, these are my regular clothes… Hang on a minute,” Kiku laughed nervously, and as if to demonstrate, stripped his shirt and trousers, leaving them on the rock and Kiku only in his swimming shorts.  
“Oh…” Herakles looked Kiku over, understanding how these clothes were different. They only covered part of his body for a start, leaving Kiku’s chest bare (an area which, Herakles noticed, looked little different from his own). Herakles could also get a better view of those curious things called feet that Kiku had, and the ends of his equally mysterious legs.  
“It will be easier for me to swim like this,” Kiku continued, Herakles nodding.   
“Very well…” Herakles agreed. “Shall we swim now?”  
“Yes, there’s little else left to do,” Kiku nodded, watching as Herakles leapt back into the water.   
“Come on then,” he beckoned. “It’s safe at the moment: there’s nothing around, I promise.”  
Kiku slid towards the water, pushing himself off of the rock and landing feet first into the water, surfacing after a few seconds. Herakles watched the human enter the water, wondering how Kiku would manage with the depth. He smiled when he saw Kiku was competent with swimming, eyes moving to his legs kicking furiously under the water.   
“Your kind really does have to work hard to swim… But it is nice that you seem good at it. Especially since I want to show you some things,” he commented.  
“Ah…” Kiku replied. “Well, I suppose my kind is more used to the land than the water… But of course I can swim. I live by the sea after all. And there are things you would like to show me? Then by all means, go ahead.”  
Herakles smiled, glad that Kiku showed interest in his world. “Okay then… follow me,” he beckoned, swimming off away from the rock, but making sure to stay parallel to the shore, so that he didn’t risk swimming Kiku out too close to where his kind were likely hunting. He heard splashes behind him that he assumed were Kiku following behind him.

After a few minutes of swimming, the two of them came across a pod of dolphins, chasing fish underneath the waves. Herakles stopped, and turned around to watch Kiku swim up to him, the human clearly going slower and making those weird motions with his arms and legs that Herakles found fascinating.  
“Look, Kiku, the dolphins are about.” The merman pointed to the creatures once his friend had caught up.  
“Ah…” Kiku smiled a little. He liked sea creatures; but dolphins rarely showed up around the areas of the beach he went to to relax.   
“I like the dolphins… They are good friends of mine,” Herakles stated, smiling down at the mammals eating the fish below the water.  
“I also like dolphins… Even though I do not see them all that often. It’s rare to see them this close to the shore, and they certainly never go up to the beach where most of the humans spend their time,” Kiku agreed, watching the animals hunt.  
“I can imagine why they wouldn’t… They seem to dislike noise, and while they do not hate humans or openly fear them like my kind do, they do seem to be wary of you,” Herakles replied.  
“I can understand them being wary of us… We do sometimes hunt similar animals to them… More often than not whales.”  
“Hmm… whales are a good source of meat… I’ve heard that merpeople in the colder seas of the world sometimes eat them… I wouldn’t have thought that they are eaten around here though.” Herakles seemed a little confused.  
“Using our boats, we often travel a long way away from our homes… I personally have never hunted any whales, but there are those in the town who have…” Kiku described.   
“Hmm… Well, if you’ll hunt merpeople, then why wouldn’t you hunt whales?”   
“I suppose…” Kiku didn’t seem completely pleased with the assertion, and Herakles thought that it was time to search for something else for them to look at. His mind considered showing Kiku his home, but he banished the thought instantly. It was far, far too dangerous for Kiku to get that close to where the pod was. He decided on another plan.   
“It’s too risky for you to see where I live…” He started. “But I would like to take you to see some similar coral nearby. It’s a little way away from here… but it’s far enough from the pod that nobody should be around to see you. I’ll still keep watch though,” he added, just to be on the safe side. Kiku thought it over for a moment. He would probably end up disobeying his promise to stay in sight of the shore, but Herakles knew what he was doing, and he was trying to keep him out of harm’s way…  
“That seems alright…” He finally agreed, understanding the dangers, and knowing that Herakles meant well, even if he did seem… A little extra safe. Were the other merpeople in Herakles’s pod really that dangerous?   
“Okay then… it’s this way,” Herakles started to lead Kiku into deeper water, heading a little away from the shore but off on a diagonal tangent, so that he was heading, with Kiku in tow, away from the coral where he usually lived. 

Kiku followed behind, going fine at first, but soon beginning to struggle with the increase in current as the pair got away from the safety of the shore. Herakles didn’t seem to notice his friend’s difficulty to begin with, and Kiku began to feel a little worried, knowing that he would tire out before they could reach their destination if he just carried on the way he was going. And with the water now far too deep to stand in… He didn’t like the likely consequences of that one bit. Luckily for Kiku, Herakles turned around after a few minutes of swimming, on the lookout for sharks or other merpeople, and noticed Kiku was several hundred metres behind him. He swam back to his friend to check up on him.   
“Are you okay?” He asked, concerned.  
“Ah… The current is… A little hard to swim against…” Kiku complained. “Is there another way we can go?”  
Herakles scowled. He wasn’t used to swimming with humans. They were so slow! And add to that, they seemed unable to deal with such currents… If he were with his brother, Herakles knew that they would find no problem with the flow of water, knowing the riptide at other parts of the shore miles down the beach to be far worse than any current here. And on top of that, he had to be careful to keep Kiku safe from merpeople and other sea creatures, since he couldn’t exactly defend himself in the water. The human he had killed the day before was proof enough of how fragile human life really was. As for another route… Herakles couldn’t think of one. But he had a different solution.   
“I’ll help you swim,” he smiled, grabbing hold of Kiku’s hand and dragging him through the rough bit of the sea with ease.  
“Ah… W-wait…” Kiku stuttered, turning red at the sudden contact. Herakles took his protest to mean that he was unused to the speed instead.  
“I know it’s faster than you’re used to swimming… But we just need to get through this area of current… Then we’ll almost be there,” he smiled, tightening his grip on Kiku reassuringly and causing the human to blush an even deeper red.

It took them a quarter of an hour of Herakles swimming against the current and Kiku feeling uncomfortable with the contact between them before the sea became calm and Herakles let go of his friend. Kiku sighed in relief at the re-establishing of his personal space.  
“We’re almost at the coral now,” Herakles stated, continuing to swim in the right direction, Kiku following. “It should only take a few more minutes before we reach it.”  
The human nodded, following his merman friend, feeling rejuvenated from the break from swimming he had had. After a little while longer, the two reached the area Herakles had been talking about. The water was crystalline and almost neon blue in this part of the sea, and bright coral in every colour imaginable stretched out below the waterline, for several hundred metres in each direction save for the one the two had come from, where the sea was far clearer. As Kiku had suspected, the shore was essentially out of sight, only just visible as a small smudge on the horizon. Herakles seemed at home here though, speaking with confidence.  
“It is in coral like this that my kind most often make their homes. We use caves and the like too, of course, but predators are less likely to come close to the coral, so it protects us far better” the merman narrated, seeing Kiku look down on the reef in deep interest. The human had seen coral before; he had been out to the reef in which Herakles lived after all. But the structures of calcium seemed majestic no matter how many times a person saw them.   
“It’s nice and warm around here this time of day too… Perfect to relax in…” Herakles continued, rolling to lay on his back, his friend following. It seemed almost a perfect place to float and relax a while…

“Kiku, have you seen any more cats recently?” Herakles asked, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the two. Kiku turned his head sideways to regard the merman.  
“Of course… I do have a cat of my own,” he explained, amused at Herakles’s apparently growing love of cats.  
“Your own cat…” Herakles mused. “Cute… What is it called?”  
“His name is Tama… He has a strong love of fish which seems to always be getting him into trouble one way or another… For example, when he steals food from the fridge… Yao hates it when he does that…” Kiku smiled and closed his eyes. “And then, there was the time he fell into a pond belonging to the house next door, trying to catch fish… Other than that though, he has always been docile, as far as cats go. He rarely brings in dead animals, or scratches the furniture.”  
“….Furniture?” Herakles asked, not understanding the unfamiliar word.   
“Ah, yes… Things like beds, sofas, and so on… We sit or lie on them when we want to rest.”  
“And cats scratch them up?” Herakles continued.   
“Yes… They need to scratch to keep their claws in good condition… it also helps them to gain exercise. However, we far prefer them to scratch up toys that we make for that purpose, rather than things we would rather use elsewhere,” Kiku told him.  
“I see… We do not make toys for other animals. We only use toys to help teach our young to hunt and things like that,” Herakles compared, before changing the subject entirely. “What does your cat look like?”  
“Hmm…. He is mostly black, but has white parts on his legs and also on the front of his body,” Kiku described.  
“That sounds really cute… I hope I can meet him someday, Kiku.”  
Kiku smiled. “Ah… Well, hopefully, someday, you can…”

Before long, the sun started to edge lower in the sky, casting deep orange rays across the duo. Herakles looked up for a moment, before his thoughts flew to the rest of the pod. They would be heading for the shore soon, to try to subdue any humans still in the water after dark. They would also likely be wondering where he was. He couldn’t let Kiku be put at risk.  
“We should head back…” He started. “It was nice to spend time with you today though.”  
Kiku looked to the position of the sun, and nodded. If he stayed out any longer, his brother would not be happy with him. “It would seem so… Thank you for taking me out here Herakles, I also had a nice time.” Kiku smiled a little, and Herakles nodded.   
“We should head back now then…” He insisted, a little worried now as he envisioned his people finding Kiku on the shore and slaughtering the man on the spot as he was left helpless to stop them.  
“Okay,” Kiku agreed, flipping forwards onto his front and following Herakles back the way they had come.

The journey back was a little quicker with the current helping them the whole way, so Herakles was able to get Kiku back before there was any chance of the human being in danger. Kiku hauled himself back up onto the rock, wrapping his towel around himself in an attempt to dry off before picking up his clothes from earlier and looking back to Herakles.  
“When should we meet again?” He asked, his clothes in one hand while the other held onto the towel to stop it falling off of his shoulders.  
“Well… Maybe at least we should meet back here tomorrow to talk? We can decide any further activities we want to do then,” Herakles suggested.  
“That sounds good,” Kiku agreed, smiling over at his friend.  
“Great,” Herakles smiled widely. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Kiku.”  
Kiku nodded. “Okay… See you tomorrow Herakles.” He waved a little before skipping back over the rocks, towards the shore and eventually back into the town. Herakles watched for several minutes, waiting until Kiku was gone before relaxing, glad his friend was safe. As he turned around and swam back out to sea to meet up with the rest of the pod, his heart fluttered just a little at the thought of Kiku ever being hurt. The merman didn’t notice the unfamiliar feeling.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philosophy. Lots and lots of philosophy. And Herakles starts feeling really protective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how many people noticed, but for the most part, I'm limiting time skips in this fic to a few days at most. There's an exception at the end of this chapter: there'll be a timeskip of nearly two weeks to chapter ten (in universe, not in real life).

“Do you think there might be another world out there somewhere, where humans and merpeople aren’t fighting the way they are here?” Herakles pondered.   
“You seem philosophical today,” Kiku pointed out, looking over at Herakles from his place next to him on the rock.  
It was the day after their swim in the ocean, and both Kiku and Herakles had returned to their usual meeting point. The sun was unusually warm, and caused the water below them to sparkle, and Kiku to feel especially relaxed, and almost a little tired. Herakles had already warned him against sleeping though. Said merman shrugged at the statement.  
“Perhaps… I was just wondering though… It would be nice if somewhere, there were people just like us, who could be friends… Without there being implications.”  
Kiku thought it over. “It would be nice…” He agreed. “But we might not even have to look to other worlds… Maybe there is another place within this one where things are so different… Different groups of humans have different cultures, after all.”  
Herakles nodded. “Yes… I didn’t think of that… Maybe somewhere, humans and merpeople are living in harmony without trying to kill each other…”

Herakles remained still for a while, seemingly lost in thought, and Kiku’s attention turned instead to the fish swimming below the crystalline waters he could see from the safety of the rock. The previous conversation had almost entirely slipped from his mind by the time Herakles spoke again.  
“Why did we end up here?”   
“What?” Kiku seemed confused .“We just woke up and made the decision to come here… Didn’t we?”  
“Ah…” Herakles chuckled a little .“No, I wasn’t referring to that. I meant more… In general. Out of all the places in the world where we could have been born… We became a part of this society. We could just as easily have been born in a place where things were different, couldn’t we?”  
“Well… I can’t see any reason why not.” Kiku still seemed a little confused. “Where did all these sudden deep thoughts come from?”  
“I was just thinking about… How sad it was that my family wouldn’t like it if they knew we were friends… And it made me wonder whether things had to be this way.”  
“I suppose… Life can’t be perfect… Even if our kinds were friends… There would be other difficulties,” Kiku mused.  
“Ah, of course! I never thought of that. Thank you.” Herakles set about pondering his new perspective.  
“Oh, you’re welcome then, I suppose.”  
“Yes… It would be just too boring if everything was perfect… So there has to always be something that is less than perfect… Even some things that seem rather bad. It makes things interesting, and gives us something to strive towards,” Herakles continued.  
“Yes, I agree with that,” Kiku smiled.  
“I suppose, given time, we might find a way to remove the imperfections in this world… But even if we did, we would probably still all find something to fight about, wouldn’t we? …other groups of people would find differences that would turn to hatred, and then there would be more wars, more violence… Some people can’t seem to be able to deal with others being different. But aren’t differences what make us interesting? If we just talked about each other’s beliefs and debated our differences, instead of hating people who aren’t exactly like us, we could learn so much… And I think it would make the world a more diverse, interesting, and overall nice place…” The merman theorised.  
“Would you prefer to use words then, rather than actions?” Kiku prompted, deciding to keep the conversation going.  
“Hmm… It really depends on the situation. Sometimes, there is no choice but to use actions; I can’t always reason with people. Sometimes, when someone is trying to kill you, you have to resort to violence to protect yourself, even if that ends up with one person dying. I don’t like killing people, and I wish that I could attempt to solve things with words, but that’s just not possible with the attitudes of the people who live on the land with you,” Herakles admitted frankly.

Kiku tried not to think back to the humans who had been reported killed out at sea just a couple of days before. He hadn’t previously thought Herakles capable of having any connection with the deaths at all; now he wasn’t so sure, and he didn’t want to have to consider his friend a killer. He banished the thoughts from his mind.  
“Do the other humans try to attack you often?” He asked, trying to change the subject a little.  
“Not really often at all, thankfully…” Herakles replied. “They seem to be afraid of my kind, more than anything. Of course, some people just want to attack us even more because of that… They see us as a threat to be destroyed. I suppose some people just think themselves more powerful than us… They underestimate us, considering that we have the terrain advantage. You humans should really think twice before taking on merpeople in the water… Especially since your kind needs air to survive. It might be a different story on the land, but we never go there, so in general, it seems as though my kind has the upper hand.”  
“We humans do seem to outstretch ourselves sometimes… I don’t know how we got so arrogant… Most of us are not like that though, it is just some individuals,” Kiku tried to explain.  
“Hmm…” Herakles remembered at this point his earlier revelation about how fragile human life was, and he began to worry for Kiku’s safety again, the strange feeling of protectiveness returning. He turned to his friend, face earnest.  
“Kiku,” he started, completely serious. “Promise me you’ll never do anything like that… That you’ll always remember the danger my kind can pose to you. Never go out unprepared, never sail deep into the water alone, and never underestimate merpeople.”  
“Ah… I am sure that you’ve warned me not to travel too far out to sea before,” Kiku replied. “Don’t worry too much about me though. I am not like the humans who underestimate your kind, I always make sure to be well prepared for everything,” he reassured.

Herakles relaxed slightly at the reassurance, smiling a little.  
“I suppose I might have warned you before… But I wanted to make sure you would remember it,” he rationalised. “So long as you’re sure that you will stay safe, I won’t worry. I would hate for anything to happen to you, that’s all.”  
Kiku blushed slightly. “Y-your concern is touching… But I am fine,” he stuttered in response.  
“Your face has turned red again… Is everything alright?” Herakles asked, confused as to why Kiku seemed to be having trouble speaking coherently.  
“I am fine! It was a little embarrassing to know you felt such concern for me, that’s all,” Kiku responded.  
“Why is that embarrassing? I’m your friend, so I should feel concern for you, shouldn’t I?” Herakles tried to make sense of Kiku’s reactions.  
“Oh, well, I suppose so… Ah, forgive me, I am not trying to be rude to you, I just find such emotions slightly confusing, since I am not used to feeling such things after only knowing someone for a few weeks,” Kiku continued, really unsure about his own feelings.  
“Is that so…? Hmm… I never really thought about it before,” Herakles pondered a little more. “To me, these feelings are how I know that somebody is my friend… I think it would be stranger if I didn’t feel anything for my friends, to be honest.”  
“Ah, you may be right there,” Kiku smiled a little. “I have known all of my other friends for a long time now, so I was not sure what it felt like to make a new friend. Maybe this is just it.”  
“That’s probably it,” Herakles agreed. The two sat in silence for a moment.  
“Are you still embarrassed?” Herakles asked a few seconds later.  
“Eh… No, not really,” Kiku replied.  
“Good,” the merman smiled widely at Kiku.  
“Does anything embarrass you?” Kiku asked, realising that he had been left blushing several times now, while Herakles seemed completely unfazed.  
“Hmm… I suppose I wear no clothes, so nakedness doesn’t embarrass me… I am not embarrassed to show affection to my friends and family… Perhaps not. My society is far more open than yours. There are some situations where my kind prefers privacy though,” he answered.  
“Which situations?” Kiku pressed.  
“Well… We find ourselves vulnerable when we are sick or injured, and prefer only to have those we trust completely visit us in our homes during that time… We prefer to sleep only with our family members… And of course, we wish for privacy when mating, generally. It’s the polite thing to do,” Herakles detailed.  
“Those situations… It seems completely reasonable for someone to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable at those times. I understand,” Kiku evaluated.  
“And yet you feel embarrassed by more situations than me,” Herakles stated.  
“Ah, well… Like you mentioned, our societies are different. Where I am from, there is a lot of emphasis on privacy and discreetness…. So even things like nakedness or kissing someone in public can be seen as rude,” Kiku tried to explain.  
“Hmm… I see,” Herakles considered.

Silence fell as the two looked down on the shimmering waters, now taking on a distinctively orange hue as the afternoon sun began to make its way towards the horizon. Herakles blinked.  
“How did the time pass so quickly?” He asked. Kiku shook his head.  
“I’m not sure… But I suppose we could spend a whole day philosophising about it, considering the way today flew past,” he replied.  
“We could… But it will have to wait for another day. We both have to be back before sunset. We can’t risk it,” Herakles decided.  
“Alright… I’ll see you later then,” Kiku stood, smiling.  
“See you soon,” Herakles smiled in response, diving into the water as Kiku made his way towards the shore. This time though, Herakles couldn’t help but feel anxious, hanging about just underneath the surface until he was sure Kiku had returned safely to the land, keeping an eye out for more of his kind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack happens on the beach and people really freak out. And Kiku finds an alibi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't mind people getting sucked into the water, never to be seen again...  
> They are all unnamed characters, but also they're dead.  
> The story's picking up from here, and Herakles is really getting close to a realisation... But it's still a few chapters away. Kiku and his family remain oblivious as ever, but they might be starting to understand the cycle of death they're trapped in.

Mei looked out over the vast blue sea in front of her. Today was two weeks since Kiku and Herakles had gone swimming together, and she had decided to go with Li to the beach to relax. Her brother was inflating a beach ball behind her, sitting on the warm sand while Mei herself had her feet in the surf. More humans were already swimming in the water, the day being warm and the people having decided to cool down in the sea. The sun, although not yet fully in the sky, was already baking, and indeed was close to being fully risen. Mei turned to her brother, deciding that they were wasting enough time with the ball.  
“Leave it there, let’s just go swim,” she insisted. “We can always play volleyball later.”  
Li shook his head. “It like, will only take a minute, be patient,” he answered. “Why don’t you set out the net in the meantime?”  
Mei pouted, but thought it over regardless. “Well… Okay. It would be fun, and later on in the day it might be too hot to do anything but soak in the water.” She walked a little way back up the beach to set out the net for their game.

“Today is a warm day. There are likely to be humans out in the water. Today is a good day to strike,” Helene detailed to the gathered merpeople, who listened intently. Among them was Sadik, who looked around, wondering where Herakles was today. His confusion was mirrored in Lukas.  
“Mama, will we wait for Herakles first?” He asked.  
“Herakles is probably watching for threats to us… We can’t let our guard down, even if we are attacking. We should leave him where he is,” the mother advised.  
Most of the gathered merpeople seemed to accept this explanation, except for Sadik, who remained suspicious, completely unsure as to whether Herakles was even doing anything up there. Still, he knew better than to argue directly with Helene over this. He could always spy on the brat later.

Less than an hour later, the merpeople were ready to strike, now just metres from the shallow water where people were still bathing, splashing about and otherwise having fun. Mei and Li were just wrapping up their game on the beach, already decided that this point would be the last. Li jumped up, slapping the ball well over the net and Mei’s head. It landed in the water, creating a hollow splash. He grinned triumphantly. Victory was sweet. His sister groaned.  
“Like, go get the ball Mei, then we can finish up and go swimming,” he called, and she nodded before taking a few steps towards the water. Then she stopped, her mouth hanging open in a gasp.  
“What’s wrong?” Li asked behind her.  
“Someone… Just disappeared,” she stated, taking a step back.  
Seconds later, the attack started.

Merpeople jumped from the water in all directions, dragging frightened and unsuspecting swimmers (who had made the mistake of gathering to the spot where the first human had been taken to investigate) beneath the waves. The water began to turn crimson with shed blood. At least a dozen were pulled to their deaths before the masses had managed to make it to shore, believing themselves to be safe. But even then, merpeople threw themselves at the humans, clawing at whatever they could reach safely without leaving the water. A couple of unfortunate people were caught by the leg and dragged screaming towards a watery grave.  
Mei ran back towards her brother, clearly fearing for them. Li saw an opportunity to protect them both.  
“Get behind the net. Leave the ball,” he instructed. The teenagers scurried up the beach and sat behind the netting, bodies tense and ready to defend themselves. Parallel to the sea as it was, the merpeople couldn’t touch them without getting caught in the nets, even if a massive wave brought the sea to them. One mermaid looked up at them and hissed, showing off her teeth and clearly trying to scare them. But then she returned to the deeper ocean, not wanting to risk getting beached or left behind. After a few minutes, almost all of the other surviving humans had fled, and the seas calmed again as the merpeople appeared to withdraw. Mei left the safety of the net and began to walk towards the water, where their family’s beach ball was still floating, a little further away than it had been before. Li saw the water ripple.  
“Mei, don’t go further!” He yelled, just as a hand reached out of the water. Mei leapt back, and the merperson’s claws only managed to shred her swimming costume, doing Mei herself little harm.  
“Don’t worry about the ball, let’s just get out of here before those things come back. This is like, not cool at all,” her brother continued, already packing up the net and getting ready to leave.  
Mei nodded numbly. “Okay…” She breathed, running back up the beach, while the rippling of the sea continued. The merpeople had not yet gone. They did, in fact, stay lurking for several more hours, taking a few more humans stupid enough to return.

Kiku smiled as he looked back over at Herakles. The merman had met him at the rocks that morning as usual, and they had spent the whole day talking and comparing each other’s lives, and generally getting closer as beings. It was beginning to get late, and Herakles seemed on edge, but Kiku was generally relaxed and calm.  
“Is everything okay?” The human asked his friend, moving over to tap his shoulder lightly when the merman did not respond. “Herakles…?”  
“Kiku… You need to leave,” Herakles stated, steadfast.  
“What?” Kiku was really confused. “Why do I need to leave?”  
Herakles sighed. “My people… Were meant to be attacking the humans today. When they get back and find I’m not there… They’ll come looking for me… And if they find you here with me they will kill you,” he explained matter-of-factly.  
The human grimaced, not liking the sound of that at all. His eyes shot wide open. “Okay then… I suppose I must go… See you tomorrow, Herakles,” he breathed, his body acting almost on instinct, looking genuinely shaken, as he jumped across the rocks to the shore before running home as fast as he could, fearing for his life. Herakles just at that moment got the sudden urge to call Kiku back, hold him and reassure him that he would never let any harm come to him. The merman’s eyes widened. This was a stronger feeling than before. It was confusing, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

When Kiku got back home, the panic from earlier beginning to dissipate just slightly now that he was safe and secure, there was uproar.  
“Where the hell were you? I thought you had been eaten or something!” Yao fussed as soon as he walked through the door, instantly sweeping him into a crushing hug.  
“Ah, I was just out… With a friend,” Kiku tried to explain. “What’s all the commotion for?”  
“Like… You didn’t hear about it?” Li asked, curious.  
“Not really, no…”  
“There were merpeople right on the beach! They dragged a whole load of people under the water and took them away! We had to leave our ball in the water and flee, and they still ripped up my swimsuit as we tried to escape!” Mei ranted, clearly shaken.  
Kiku visibly gulped. Clearly, Herakles hadn’t been exaggerating. There really had been an attack. He really had been in danger.  
“It was totally uncool. What gives them the right to do that? We were lucky we had the net set up on the beach, there’s no way they’d have tried to get through that,” Li continued.  
“Perhaps it was a counter-attack for when we killed their people before?” Kasem offered from the kitchen, trying to be at least a little diplomatic.  
“Well, there are often increased attacks around this time of year… That could be it… In which case, maybe things will calm down within a few weeks,” Hue agreed.  
“Aiyah, it had better calm down… But to be safe, I want all of you to promise not to go out to the sea tomorrow. Stay within the confines of town, for all our sakes,” Yao looked around all of his siblings, as though daring anyone to disagree with him.

Nobody argued with him.

Even later on that evening, things were tense in the household. Several of the siblings seemed shaken from earlier, and Kiku couldn’t help but think everything over again and again, unable to set his mind at ease. His younger sister had definitely been in harm’s way, and even though she had escaped injury, she still looked a tiny bit nervous. And where had Kiku been? He had been out sitting on some rocks, conversing with a creature not unlike the ones who had threatened her. He felt like slapping himself as soon as the words had entered his head. This was Herakles he was talking about, not some monster. He wasn’t like the others, he tried to remind himself. But regardless, things were definitely getting more serious… 

And what was he to do about Yao banning him from the coastline? He had already promised to meet Herakles again tomorrow. Kiku knew it was dangerous, but he was also, deep down, convinced that Herakles would protect him from danger, and that it wouldn’t be an issue to disobey his brother’s orders. Overall though, he was torn.

“Kiku… Hey, Kiku!” Yong Soo’s shouting brought him out of his thoughts.  
“Hmm?” He looked up at his cousin, curious as to what he was thinking about. By now, it was later on in the evening, and the family had begun to eat dinner.  
“Where were you today, Kiku? You never told us,” he grinned annoyingly. “Were you with a girl or something?”  
Kiku blushed bright red. “Ah… No, of course I wasn’t!” He tried to argue.  
“Where were you then?” Yong Soo pressed, trying to get information out of the older boy.  
“Aiyah, leave Kiku alone, I’m sure he was being sensible and appropriate as always,” Yao stepped in, giving Kiku a knowing look. Clearly he thought he was doing him a favour.  
“Well then, like, where was he? He seemed completely to miss everything that was going on,” Li questioned.  
“We missed it too, you know… We only know anything happened because you were there,” Hue argued back.  
“Hey, didn’t Kiku already say he was out with his friend?” Kasem remembered.  
“But I swear I saw Feliciano out with his brother this morning on my way to the beach… And Ludwig’s working today, isn’t he?” Mei looked over at Kiku confusedly.  
“And what, Kiku can’t have more than 2 friends?” Kyung Soo added into the conversation moodily before falling silent for most of the rest of the evening.  
“I can’t argue with you there…” Li stopped questioning, Mei smiling a little before returning to eating. Yong Soo looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped, especially when he saw Yao’s disapproving look. Yao still looked pleased with himself. He winked at Kiku. God, he still really thought Kiku was out there somewhere with a girl, and that it was their secret, didn’t he?

Kiku sighed. He would definitely have to set Yao straight one of these days. But until then, he had to find a way to get around his rules and back to the coast to see Herakles. If he was caught, the girlfriend thing would be a helpful alibi…


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Kiku spend a day apart after the former gets suspicious of their safety. As well as that, Kiku shares some human food with Herakles, who really starts to feel decidedly strange. And somebody else is suspicious as well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Tama. He gave me an excuse to write Feliciano and Ludwig into the story again, while also having a comedic moment. In seriousness, there will be more Axis Trio moments.  
> And Herakles. He's just acting... Slightly lovestruck if anything. Without even realising it.  
> There's also going to be a week time skip between this chapter and the next in universe. And then things will happen. Things that may just involve a flash of red and general anxiety for everyone involved.

Herakles was worried.

He was sure that Kiku had reached home safely, after he had sprinted home last night, but this didn’t stop the feeling of concern that seemed ever present. His people had attacked the humans at the beach. The rocks were so near, and he knew that a few merpeople were suspicious as to why he had been absent from the assault. He couldn’t risk them catching him with Kiku. They would slaughter him. He closed his eyes while he thought. Kiku had told him to meet him again today. He couldn’t just not turn up; that would be rude, and could risk worrying the human. But there was another way he could keep Kiku safe. He could try to throw off any potential followers by taking a less direct route to the rocks.

So instead of heading towards the shore, Herakles swam parallel to it, winding around submerged boulders, looking a little as if he was hunting instead of travelling to meet someone. He believed that he was sure to throw off any pursuers this way. A shoal of small grey fish scattered at the sight of him, and Herakles pretended to give chase for a while, before weaving around an arch within the crimson coral that was just ahead of him and turning back towards the shore, noticing the increased sunlight that filtered down beneath the waves as he got closer to the shallow sea around the rocks.

This increase of distance to his route added quite a bit of time to Herakles’s journey, so much so that by the time he had actually reached the liaison point, Kiku was getting worried. Herakles couldn’t have forgotten, so where was he? The human leant forwards on the rock, staring into the azure water below in concern. Surely the merman wasn’t hurt somewhere? There was no way for Kiku to find out, nor rescue Herakles if that was the case; the ocean was vast. He could only continue to hope that Herakles was fine, or at least that he would be able to make it somewhere safe to recover if he was injured.

When Herakles actually broke the water and looked towards Kiku, the human seemed on edge.  
“Are you okay?” He asked, pulling himself onto the rock to sit by his friend. “You didn’t see any others of my kind, did you?”  
“No… I was just wondering whether you were alright,” Kiku admitted.  
“Oh… Well, of course… I just needed to take extra time to make sure no-one was following me… My people are getting a little suspicious of why I am gone for so long everyday,” Herakles explained.  
“Oh… Are they very suspicious? Maybe you should stay with your family tomorrow if you think they might continue to follow you, to try to quell their suspicions,” the human suggested.  
“Hmm… That might be a good idea,” Herakles admitted.  
Kiku nodded. “We’ll do that tomorrow then.”  
Silence fell for a few minutes.  
“Kiku… Perhaps I could try some human food?” Herakles broached, curious.  
“Ah, well, I don’t have any on me right about now…” Kiku began. “But, I could bring some for you the day after tomorrow, and you could try it,” he suggested.  
“That would be great… Thanks.” Herakles smiled.  
“Is there anything in particular that you would like, or should I just bring whatever I feel like making?” Kiku furthered.  
“Well… I don’t really know much about human food, so how about you decide?” Herakles answered, sending Kiku into deep thought for a while.  
“I shall bring sushi then,” he replied after a long while.  
Herakles vaguely remembered the mention of sushi from before. “Ah, that has fish in it,” he recognised.  
“Yes… So out of all the dishes I know, it would probably be the one most enjoyable for you,” the human decided.   
“And I will find you some seaweed to eat too.” Herakles smiled wide.  
“Ah… Please ensure first it is not poisonous to my kind…” Kiku fretted.  
“Uh? Poisonous? Does seaweed make you sick? I thought your kind ate that too…” Herakles was confused.  
“Just some varieties; we eat different things to you.” Kiku sighed.

For most of the rest of the day the two friends discussed food and different types of seaweed, before they had to part ways for the evening. While Kiku headed straight home, Herakles took a long, winding route that passed by several shoals of fish. He made sure to catch some on the way to make it look as though he had been hunting.  
“Eh? Returning from hunting so late? What, did ya have a bad day out there brat?” Sadik teased as Herakles returned to the pod.  
“So what if I did… Jerk. I fill my day with more than just hunting.”  
“Yeah, ya also sleep and get beached in front of bloodthirsty humans… Ow! I was just joking, ya know.” Sadik rubbed his head from where Herakles had hit him.  
“Your sense of humour sucks,” Herakles stated flatly, but Sadik was cut off before he could respond by a call behind him.  
“Herakles! There you are! Were you sleeping out past the reef again? You know it’s not safe to nap out there,” his mother chided, swimming up to meet him.  
“Geh… Damn mama’s boy.” Sadik grumbled. “Somethin’ funny’s goin’ on, this isn’t the first time he’s been back so late without any good reason, and he was never like that before he got captured by those humans…” The red-tailed merman muttered to himself. Wanting to be alone with his thoughts he swam off to think of ways he could ascertain what Herakles was really up to.

“We don’t go out hunting together enough… There’s a lot more we can achieve working together,” Loukas insisted, swimming around the bright red coral to where Herakles was hiding, under a large, green bloom of seaweed.  
“Hmm.” His older brother nodded. “It is easier to hunt with two of us.”  
“It sure is,” his brother agreed before getting down to business. “Okay, so I’ll swim after some fish and chase them towards the arch,”- Loukas pointed to an arch of rock in the distance- “And you can stretch the net across and hold it tight. Once the fish are snared, we can kill them.”  
Herakles nodded, holding the worn net, made of woven seaweed, in his hands.  
“Okay then, good luck,” he smiled at his younger brother.  
Loukas smiled in return, swimming off into the distance while Herakles set up a trap for the fish before hiding behind another large patch of seaweed, this one orange, next to the rock arch, net still held in his hands. Almost a minute later, Loukas had found some edible, medium-sized fish, and began after the school, swimming around but not through it, slowly herding the group back towards where his brother was waiting. Eager to escape, many of the fish darted towards the arch and ploughed into the net, and Herakles struck, holding the net firm as the fish got more and more stuck, before moving quickly to the side to grab the other side of the net, catching most of the fish in the net and tying it up quickly.  
“Did you get any?” Asked Loukas, swimming back towards his brother, green tail shimmering slightly from the light filtering through from the surface of the water. Herakles smiled and held up the net to show his brother his catch.  
“Quite a lot,” he replied.  
“Ah, great! That’s a decent number”. Loukas grinned, patting the older merman’s back with one of his webbed hands.  
Herakles nodded. “So, what should we do next?” He asked.  
“Well, bring those back to the pod, to start with… Then, well, we can hunt a little more, or maybe even relax for a while,” Loukas answered. His brother nodded, and they returned to their home.

“Tama! You know the rules about stealing fish from the fridge!” Yao screeched, running after the defenceless cat with his wok. Tama smartly decided to make himself scarce, scarpering off with great speed.   
“Not again! We’d better go look for Tama, no way is Yao gonna find him now,” Mei commented, looking to Kiku. “I’ll look by the beach, and you can go further into town, okay?”  
Kiku nodded. “Okay, we’ll do that. Call me if you find him,” he waved his phone in her direction to accentuate his point.  
Mei nodded, running out of the door, and Kiku followed, turning at the end of the garden path and running in the opposite direction.

Ludwig had been having a normal morning, walking the dogs and trying to keep the house clean despite Gilbert, when all of a sudden an almighty crash had come from the direction of the front room. Running there straight away, he came face to face with Feliciano, holding what appeared to be Kiku’s cat protectively. The window was open behind him, curtains blowing in the wind and leaf litter making its way into the house. Ludwig couldn’t work out how weak, timid Feliciano had opened a closed window from the other side. Unable to come up with words to describe how bizarre the scene was, the German stammered.  
“W…What the hell is going on here?” He eventually managed to ask. Feliciano’s face morphed into one of abject terror.  
“K-Kiku’s brother was out chasing this little guy again! We have to keep him safe, Ludwig, we can’t just let him get beaten up, he’s a cute kitty really,” he cried.  
Ludwig sighed, placing a hand against his forehead in frustration. “Feliciano,” he began. “We cannot keep someone else’s cat just because you feel bad for it. Tama should know by now to stop stealing food,” he gave a stern look to the cat, who only miaowed cutely, trying to gain sympathy.  
“But… Can’t we at least make sure that we give him to Kiku? It’s not fair that Yao’s always the one to punish him… He’s Kiku’s cat,” Feliciano tried to argue. His German friend gave in.  
“Fine… You can find Kiku and make sure he gets his cat back in one piece,” he relented. “So long as you leave me to my cleaning, and make sure not to do stupid things like breaking into people’s houses again, clear?”  
Feliciano nodded. “But… Won’t you come with me to find Kiku first?” He hit Ludwig with his best puppy dog eyes.   
“Alright, alright, fine…” Ludwig sighed deeply.  
“Yay!” Feliciano cheered.

Kiku ran past the fountain in the middle of the town, heading straight up the road that ran the spine of the settlement. Where could Tama be…? He really had hidden himself well this time…  
“Kiku! Kiku, look what we found!” Feliciano yelled from somewhere within the maze of buildings, running towards Kiku… and then into Kiku.  
“Look where you’re going, idiot,” Ludwig sighed, coming up behind him. Kiku jumped back a little from the sudden contact, and then looked to his friend.  
“Is everything alright?” The small Japanese man asked, before noticing the black blob in his friend’s arms. “Ah! Tama, you found him,” he smiled at the little cat.  
“Yeah! We couldn’t let your brother get hold of him, so we brought him here to you! He is your cat after all, not Yao’s…” Feliciano laughed a little, handing the pet back to Kiku.  
“Thank you Feli,” Kiku nodded at his friend, while Ludwig took a deep breath.  
“Well… good I guess. It’s good to see you by the way Kiku,” he looked a little red, possibly from the bizarre nature of the day’s events.  
“It is good to see the two of you as well,” Kiku replied to his friends.  
“Yeah, yeah! We need to meet up again sometime soon, we can eat pasta, and stay up all night, and…”  
Ludwig cut in at this point. “Sure, sure. That would be good. Anyway, we need to be going now, and you probably should get home before your brother too Kiku. See you soon,” he began to drag Feliciano behind him as he headed back towards his house, wanting to restore the tranquillity of his day as soon as possible.  
“Ah, see you both later then,” Kiku called after them, before turning around and heading back towards the house, getting out his phone on the way.  
“Mei, I found Tama and…”

“Aiyah! Wherever did you find him Kiku? I swear I searched the whole town!” Yao remarked upon returning that evening to find Tama in Kiku’s arms still.  
“He was with Feliciano… Who I ran into in the main plaza… Quite literally,” his brother explained, setting his pet down onto the floor. Tama padded over to the sofa in the living room.  
“Come on Yao, you know Tama never lets you catch him when you’re mad, he’s smarter than that,” Mei giggled a little.  
Yao sighed, turning his back on his siblings to glare in the general direction of the cat. “Such a smart cat should learn to stop stealing food,” he frowned at Tama, who only mewed back ‘innocently’.  
“Mischievous little thing,” Yao muttered, not noticing Kiku cooking fish and packing it away in tubs behind his back.

The next morning, Kiku headed back out towards the rock where he usually met Herakles, the boxes of food held in his hands. Climbing over the rocks was more difficult than usual due to his load, but eventually he managed to reach the usual meeting place, taking a seat on the wet stone and waiting for Herakles to appear. Only a few minutes later, his friend came into view, emerging from the sea with a smile on his face.  
“Good morning Kiku…” He greeted, hoisting himself up onto the rock, water dripping from the edge of his turquoise tail as he settled himself next to Kiku. “I went hunting yesterday… My brother and I managed to catch a lot of fish, so it was very successful… What about you?” He asked, curious.  
“Tama stole more fish from the fridge, and my older brother chased him around for hours… I eventually found him, but I really wish he wouldn’t keep doing that,” Kiku sighed a little. “I did manage to cook something for you though.”  
Herakles’s face lit up. “Really? Can I try some of it?” He asked.  
“Well, I did make it so that you could try,” Kiku smiled, showing Herakles the tubs of food and then taking off the lids, revealing the samples he had cooked the night before.  
“It is nothing too complicated… Some marinated fish with seaweed and rice,” he admitted. “But then, I didn’t intend for it to be anything too filling… I wanted it to be just a snack.”  
“It looks delicious, I can’t wait to try some.” Herakles smiled over at Kiku, leaning towards his friend. Kiku nodded, pulling a pair of chopsticks from one of the tubs and handing the implements to Herakles.  
“What are these for?” The merman asked, confused.  
“You use them to eat with… To pick up the food. Using your fingers is rude,” Kiku tried to explain.  
“Ah…” Herakles nodded, and proceeded to stab one of the bits of fish with one of the chopsticks, managing to get it into his mouth with a little effort, as the morsel would not stay still on the stick.  
“It’s really hard,” he commented.  
“That’s because you’re doing it completely wrong,” Kiku replied. “You’re meant to use them both, and hold the food between them.”  
Herakles now looked even more confused than he had been before. “How do you do that?” He enquired, innocently.  
“Here, I suppose I’ll just show you,” Kiku reached out, grabbing Herakles’s hand and positioning his fingers so that he was holding the chopsticks correctly, blushing slightly at the unfamiliar feeling of Herakles’s damp skin against his hand. At the same time, Herakles felt his heart beat just a little bit faster, noticing the odd feeling from before was stronger than ever, and that it was almost beginning to cause his hands and feet to tingle slightly. The feeling was kind of… pleasant.  
“That’s the correct way to hold them… But it is a little bit tricky to learn to use them like that properly… So let me know if you think you need more help,” Kiku admitted.  
“Your human eating implements are rather strange and complicated,” Herakles frowned. “But thank you Kiku.” He smiled, trying to pick up the fish again, but failing, his grip loosening at just the wrong time and dropping the food back into the tub.  
“Oops.” The non-human smiled wider, feeling free for some reason, and laughed. Surprisingly, Kiku found himself chucking a little as well: laughter was just that contagious.  
“Do you want some help?” The human asked his friend.  
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Herakles nodded, letting Kiku’s hand return to rest above his own, guiding Herakles to finally eat his first piece of fish. He chewed for a while before looking to Kiku.  
“It’s really good,” he complimented.  
“Ah, I’m glad,” Kiku answered, happy that his friend was enjoying it.  
“Would you help me eat the rest of it?” Herakles asked, eager to continue eating the food but aware he still hadn’t even grasped the basics of using chopsticks.  
“Of course… I am just happy you enjoy it so much,” Kiku agreed, helping Herakles eat the rest of his little snack carefully and patiently.

As Herakles returned to the pod that day, still buoyant from the time out with Kiku and feeling like he might just have grasped the knack to handling human eating implements, Sadik watched on, now convinced that something was most definitely going on. There was no way Herakles wasn’t hiding something, and he was determined to find out what it was.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku meets somebody new, Sadik figures everything out and Herakles remains blissfully unaware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Sadik... He's not a bad guy, in the long run. Just like Herakles sometimes, he simply doesn't understand how not to scare humans.

This suspicion carried on for another week before Sadik decided to act, finally setting off after Herakles one morning with the intent of following the merman discreetly for as long as it took to find out his real intentions. Herakles again took a roundabout route to try to avoid leading anyone to Kiku, but as he swam off around an underwater rock formation, pretending to be hunting, Sadik noticed something shiny up on the surface. Gut feeling and curiosity taking over him, he headed up to meet the air, looking around at the human world as he surfaced. He quickly caught sight of the shiny object: it was the zip from a human’s coat. Sadik studied the human more intently. He was clearly male, quite young, and small with brown eyes and black straight hair. To Sadik, he looked pretty, like the sort of person merpeople usually preyed upon. Sadik though, wanted merely to play around with this particular human. He noticed his target sitting down upon some rocks-was he waiting for someone? - And decided to make a move. He swam slowly over to the rock, making as little noise as possible and mostly submerging his body again as he got closer. Had the human looked down at the water, he would have noticed the flashy, vibrant tail of the approaching merman. He didn’t. When he was close enough, he drew his body from the water slowly, smiling as the human still remained oblivious before speaking.  
“Ya know, you're probably the best lookin' human I've seen in a while”, he called, smiling a little wolfishly.

Kiku had been looking over at the shore, thinking about how Feliciano had called him the night before arranging a sleepover for the weekend, and how exactly he was going to manage the hyper Italian being just a little too damn close for an entire night, when he heard a deep, husky voice behind him that made him whirl his head back around towards the source. The human gasped upon noticing the merman who was definitely not Herakles. With his flamboyant red tail and bone mask obscuring his eyes, this merman looked dangerous. Kiku was suddenly very on edge.  
“Um… T-thank you, I suppose,” he stuttered, feeling like he should at least say something.  
“I mean it,” Sadik leaned against the rocks to pull himself up so that he was face to face with Kiku. “You really are something cute… You don’t see that every day.”  
Kiku blushed bright red. “I… I would not consider myself cute…” He stammered, completely unsure of himself. How was he meant to deal with this merman? He acted nothing like Herakles at all, and Kiku had little experience in these matters to begin with.  
“Ah, well, maybe ya should… There are people where I’m from who would literally kill for someone like you,” he leered. No need to tell the human that he would be the one getting killed.  
Kiku managed to catch the undertone behind the words though, and became increasingly on edge.  
“W-what do you want from me?” He asked, deciding to cut to the chase. If this merman was to kill him, then he’d rather it be quick.  
“Just a little fun… Nothing too serious,” Sadik reached out with a webbed hand, stroking a finger down Kiku’s cheek before he felt vibrations in the water. Someone else was coming! Not wanting another merperson to notice this interesting human and kill them right when he was beginning to have fun, he decided to withdraw.  
“Heh, I gotta go now though… But maybe I’ll see ya around baby… A pretty face like yours is always welcome,” he smiled all too sweetly a final time before loosening his grip on the rock, falling back into the sea effortlessly and swimming away, making sure to avoid the path of the other merman, and instead settling behind some rocks to watch the human some more. Seconds later, he saw perhaps the only merman he did not expect to see. Well, things just got a lot more interesting…

“Kiku? Are you okay?” Herakles pulled himself up onto the rock and looked his friend over, while Kiku couldn’t keep the panic from his face. What was that? What had happened there? Kiku had honestly thought that the merman would kill him for a moment, and he was still terrified. When he didn’t respond, Herakles got more worried.  
“Kiku…? Did something happen?”   
Kiku looked over at Herakles, trying to calm himself as much as possible. He couldn’t just tell him about what had happened: he couldn’t be sure how the merman would react, and whether he would get in trouble.  
“Nothing’s wrong,” he tried to reassure Herakles, looking up at him, the panic successfully hidden for the moment. Herakles let it drop.  
“Okay then…” He still sounded a little on edge, but didn’t say anything more.  
“Anyway…” Kiku was anxious to move the conversation on. “How have you been?”  
“Ah…” Herakles thought for a moment, smiling lazily. “I’ve been pretty good… My brother went hunting again yesterday while I was here with you, and managed to bring back a whole tuna… Needless to say, my family ate well.”  
A small smile found its way onto Kiku’s face. “Tuna? I can imagine you must have eaten well…” The human closed his eyes, thinking of the large, delicious fish.  
“Mm,” Herakles nodded. “What about you? Has anything interesting happened to you?”  
Kiku put thoughts of the other merman aside. “Well, one of my friends invited me over for the weekend,” he said. “Which should be fun, so long as he doesn’t invade my personal space too much. I don’t appreciate it.”   
“Really?” Herakles smiled. “Spending time with your friends is nice… Although, I suppose that means that I won’t see much of you over the weekend?” He guessed.  
“Well, I’m going over Saturday and sleeping over his house, so I won’t be here at all Saturday, although I should be on Sunday, probably after noon.”   
“Okay then,” Herakles nodded. “That sounds like fun, I hope you have a good time.”  
“I’m sure I will,” Kiku replied.  
“Although… You said before that you didn’t like people invading your personal space… What do you mean by that?” Herakles asked, furthering the conversation.  
“Ah… You remember some time ago, when I said I didn’t like being hugged or touched in other ways? That is more what I meant by personal space. My friend Feliciano… He doesn’t really understand that other people might not like to be touched. He shows his affection rather… outwardly…” The human tried to explain, blushing red throughout the whole ordeal.  
“Oh…” Herakles vaguely remembered the conversation he had had with the human a while ago about his dislike of hugs. “I understand… I suppose I might consider different actions to be going past my comfort zone, but we are all different…”  
“Of course,” Kiku seemed glad that someone understood his way of thinking. He knew that Herakles didn’t necessarily feel the same way, but most other people just found his mannerisms odd. At least Herakles was giving him some chance to explain himself. Somehow, this thought made Kiku feel oddly happy, and he wasn’t sure where the feeling had come from. Maybe it was just the type of friend Herakles was? Kiku was convinced that that had to be the case, unable to really come up with any other solution or answer.

Herakles meanwhile, found Kiku’s little quirks to be fascinating rather than strange, and perhaps even a little… Cute. The merman’s eyes widened as the thought passed into his mind. Since when did he find the human cute? Kiku wasn’t a child or an animal or anything! Silently, so as not to make his friend think anything was wrong, he filed the information away with the other strange feelings he promised to investigate later, and carried on his conversation with Kiku, listening to him talk at length about his friends and their lives.  
“You see, Feliciano may be over affectionate, but he is also sweet, and he’s an excellent cook,” he described, smiling at the thought of his friends. “However, Ludwig can be the complete opposite of him at times… So stoic and serious! It doesn’t mean he’s not friendly, and he actually can cook great cakes when he wants to. He does sometimes get into arguments with Feliciano though, as Ludwig’s a bit of a workaholic, and Feliciano can be lazy and often whines about having to do work.” He detailed, possibly going on just a little bit.  
“Wow… Your friends seem really different from each other… And yet they still get on?” The merman responded, trying to spur on the conversation.  
“Yes… They are quite close friends actually. Deep down, Ludwig really does care for Feliciano, and Feliciano looks up to Ludwig as someone he can rely on, even if the two of them find it hard to see eye to eye a lot of the time. It can be rather amusing,” Kiku answered.  
“Hmm… I suppose I understand where you’re coming from.” Herakles nodded, continuing the conversation.  
“Yes… They are my friends… I wouldn’t change them for anything, even if they can be a mystery to me sometimes… They get almost completely naked in summer, and just lie out in their gardens like that! It’s entirely improper!” Kiku screwed his face up a little in embarrassment.  
“Ah, yes… I remember you said before that nakedness is frowned upon in your society… So why do they do it?” Herakles couldn’t quite understand why Kiku’s friends would do something so taboo.  
“Well, I suppose they are from a different part of the world to me… Where they come from, it’s not such a terrible thing to be naked in public… I do wish they’d remember how uncomfortable it makes me though,” Kiku tried to explain it to Herakles so that it would make sense.  
“Oh, right,” Herakles nodded. “I can understand why you feel that way. It is interesting that humans from different places on the land can differ so much.”   
“Does it happen with merpeople too?” Kiku queried, curious.  
“I suppose so…”

For the rest of the afternoon, the two friends discussed the varied cultures and peoples inhabiting both the sea and the land, comparing and contrasting the different ethnicities and ways of life. By the time the sun was setting and the two were ready to return home, the thoughts of the other merman Kiku had met earlier had faded from his mind, and he was able to return home without worry… Until, getting through the door, he caught sight of a piece of red fabric on a neighbour’s coat… Fabric the exact same colour as that merman’s tail. Suddenly, Kiku was apprehensive again. Who was that merman from before? Would he be back the next day? What would happen if he met Herakles? Kiku didn’t want to see his friend fight another of his kind, especially considering the repercussions it would cause. And yet somehow, the human knew that Herakles wanted nothing more than to protect him, and so would fight if necessary.  
Kiku didn’t know if he liked or hated that thought. Or why he was so worried about Herakles, who could clearly take care of himself. He didn’t really want to follow that line of questioning too much.

Meanwhile, Herakles was heading back to the pod, pleased that his methods to avoid leading anyone to Kiku seemed to be working, and completely oblivious to Sadik watching him, pondering his strange day. Okay, so the older merman hadn’t stayed around all afternoon to watch the human and Herakles talk. That was boring. But he did at least now know that Herakles had been lying about going ‘hunting’ or ‘scouting’ all this time. That at least, was important blackmail for the future. At the very least, it would be fun to tease Herakles with this newfound knowledge. Not to mention the identity of his little human friend… Who would also be a lot of fun to play around with. Just a little bit. The flashy merman smiled, eyes lighting up beneath the mask covering his face. He had always known something had been going on. Well, things just got a whole lot more interesting…


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku spends some time with his friends, Feliciano acts rather creepy for a few minutes, Sadik visits again and Herakles finally finds out about it. And perhaps realises something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feliciano's little ominous thing is rather out of character, but could be foreshadowing. Maybe. 
> 
> And Sadik is again not a bad guy. Although he really makes Herakles mad this time. Maybe that's just because he really doesn't like him. I think Sadik's more of an ally than an enemy overall though.
> 
> This is more or less the last chapter of the pre-romance friendship. Although it will take a couple more chapters for the issues to be resolved (more on that next chapter though).

“Ah, and then there’s this one… I painted this one with watercolour. It’s of that storm last month, you can tell right?” Feliciano smiled, watching his friends look over his latest works of art… At least, those that were finished.  
“Ah, it is lovely Feli, you must have put a lot of work into it,” Kiku smiled in return at his friend.  
“Oh, yes,” Ludwig nodded, trying to keep up with the conversation despite not really knowing what to say on the subject. Art was not his strong point.  
“Oh, I did,” Feli replied, looking his canvas over again. “I spent hours painting it, and then weeks looking back over the photos I’d taken, trying to get inspired. And then there was a bit over here that just wasn’t working, and I had to figure out what had gone wrong and then repainted that bit… And the blue over there was so hard to mix up correctly, and I ran out of it several times. Ah, I need to get better at getting the right amounts of paints for what I need to do,” he rambled, still smiling at Ludwig and Kiku, to check they could still keep up with him.  
“That sounds very annoying,” Kiku empathised, still smiling.  
“I do enjoy my art though… It’s relaxing, and fun to do, and the results are well worth the effort,” he grinned. “What about the two of you? Have you done anything creative recently?” Feliciano asked, continuing the conversation.  
“Ah, well, I haven’t really been drawing or anything like that… You know I like reading more than anything,” Ludwig answered, still feeling a little awkward.  
“I have been drawing some things… Mostly just characters from games and similar… Perhaps next time we meet I can show you?” Kiku responded, generally liking the talk about creative pursuits.  
“Yeah! I’d really love that Kiku!” Feli grinned widely, getting excited again at the idea.   
“Well, you know I don’t mind you two showing me art-related things,” Ludwig agreed, smiling just a little. Deep down, the German actually appreciated art… Even if he did prefer reading more himself.  
“Okay then, that sounds like a plan,” Kiku nodded in finality, before Feliciano began rambling over ideas for things he’d like to draw before the next time he met Kiku and Ludwig.

“Anyway, have you been up to anything interesting lately, Kiku?” Feliciano asked later on that evening, as he was busy cooking up pasta for the 3 friends to eat.  
“Well, I went to the beach earlier this week,” Kiku told from his spot sitting at the table, alluding to his time spent with Herakles without going into any sort of detail that could give the game away before changing the subject to avoid further scrutiny. “Of course, as well as that I have been spending time with my family, and helping out around the house generally. Overall, I suppose I have not been too busy,” he summed up, nodding slightly as he spoke. Well, at least he hadn’t been busy during the time he had not been spending with Herakles.  
“Ah, that sounds cool,” Feliciano grinned, accepting Kiku’s vague details. “I went out to the market earlier in the week, and I got to pet this pretty cat, it was so cute.” He rambled. “But then Lovino got mad at me for taking too long getting all of the vegetables we needed for dinner…”   
Ludwig resisted the urge to facepalm at Feliciano’s description. Honestly, sometimes the Italian was so difficult for him to understand… “As for me, I have mostly been following my regular routine. Training my dogs, reading books and manuals…”  
“You read a lot,” Feliciano giggled. “Can you write at all? Maybe you should become an author!” He pointed out, still smiling like a maniac.  
“I am not sure I would particularly like writing as a career,” Ludwig frowned, leaning back further against the counter he was positioned against. “I would like to think I would prefer something more hands on than that.”  
“Oh, well, you can do whatever you want, it was just a suggestion,” the Italian backpedalled, looking a little worried. Kiku changed the subject, wanting to remove the sudden tense mood from the atmosphere.  
“Feliciano, is the pasta done yet?”   
“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Feli nodded, moving to turn off the pans on the stove, ready to serve the food.

Meanwhile, Herakles sat inside the coral that made up his home, eating a caught fish with a sated look on his face. He had spent the day Kiku had spent with his friends hunting with his brother. The time had been good, and he had enjoyed it, but as he sat alone at the end of the day, he felt a little… Strange. As though somehow, going the day without seeing Kiku caused him to miss the human already. But it was silly, right? He would see him again after the sun’s highest peak tomorrow. That was what Kiku had promised. And Herakles trusted the human to keep his promise. Somehow though, he still found himself worrying unnecessarily.   
“I wonder where these feelings come from…” The merman wondered out loud. Was he getting sick or something? Herakles was unable to find any explanation for the feeling. If this carried on, he decided he would have to speak to someone about it. After all, it might interfere with his responsibilities in the pod if he didn’t deal with it somehow.

“Hey, Kiku?” Feliciano asked later that night, as he lay next to his friends, sprawled out on the floor of the Italian’s home.  
“Hm?” Kiku looked towards Feli, smiling just a little.  
“You promise that you’ll always tell us if anything worries you, or if something happens?” The Italian asked, being strangely serious for once.  
“Well… I’ll try my best Feli, if that is what’s appropriate. I would hate to burden or worry you though, unless it was something very serious. And of course, it would be terrible if I somehow got you into danger somehow,” Kiku replied. “Why do you ask?”  
“Hmm… I’m not sure,” Feliciano replied. “I guess I just have this… Strange sort of feeling that something bad is going to happen… And I want to make sure that between us, we all make it out okay.” The Italian suddenly appeared to be uncharacteristically serious and upfront, and Kiku frowned a little, not used to his friend being like this.  
“A weird sense of foreboding? That is certainly very odd… Are you sure you haven’t eaten something bad?” The smaller man replied, trying to comfort his friend if at all possible. Suddenly, as though a light switch had been flicked off without warning, Feliciano started, blinking a few times before smiling lazily, seemingly back to his usual self.   
“Hmm… You’re probably right Kiku. You often are.” He moved forwards to hug Kiku, who leaned back, still not used to people in his personal space. “Still, at least we know we’ll all stick together if anything does happen, right?”  
Kiku nodded, watching as Feliciano curled up within his blankets, smiling still as he drifted off to sleep, while the Japanese remained awake, thinking. What an odd thing for Feli to say… 

After bidding goodbye to Ludwig and Feliciano the next morning, Kiku returned to his house momentarily to drop his bags off (quickly greeting his siblings on the way, who seemed mostly busy with their own pursuits), before walking down towards the beach, to meet Herakles just like he’d promised. The man was a little bit early due to his sleepover with Ludwig and Feliciano having ended sooner than expected, as Ludwig had had work to do with his brother. Therefore, as Kiku clambered along the rocks towards their usual meeting spot, the sun had not quite yet reached the highest point in the sky. The time was about 11 o’clock in the morning.

Sadik swam up towards the surface, crimson tail flashing in the light shining down from above. Herakles had spent the entire day with the pod yesterday, and hadn’t been to see the human from before at all. Sadik had been wondering if Herakles was going to meet the human that day. So he had decided to find his way to the rocks, curious as to whether he could see the man. As he broke the surface, he noticed that same human heading towards the rocks he had been sitting on the last time Sadik had met him. As Kiku sat down upon the rocks to wait for Herakles, Sadik swam closer, making sure this time to announce his presence early. He didn’t want to scare the man this time after all.  
“Hey, good mornin’!” He called, making Kiku jump, staring straight over at the merman in confusion and fear.  
“W-What do you want from me?” He asked, on edge instantly.   
“Hey, calm down, okay? I was only tryin’ to have a little fun before, nothing serious, I promise,” he held his hands up in defence, only being met with a cold glare from Kiku, who had learned to be suspicious of strange merpeople. “Alright, fine… I’m sorry about before, okay? I went too far.” He looked back to the human, who looked only a little less wary.  
“I do not consider what you did to be funny,” he replied, frowning.  
Sadik sighed. "Listen, I know we may have gotten off on the wrong... Fin? Foot? Whatever, ya get the idea. I don't mean to creep ya out, so perhaps we can just put that behind us?" He offered, trying to be cautious with his words so as to not make things worse.  
Kiku seemed to be thinking it over for a while, clearly considering whether or not to forgive the merman. In truth, Kiku was still rather concerned, but he supposed it would be rude not to accept his apology… After all, it didn’t mean he couldn’t still be wary of the other.  
“Alright then… So long as you’re sure that it is all behind us,” he replied, looking just a little less edgy.  
Sadik smiled just a little, trying to make himself look as trustworthy as possible. “Great… So, maybe we should start from the beginning, yeah? I’m…” He looked down suddenly, hearing something in the water. “Shit…” He looked back up to Kiku. “Well, good that I got to make it up with ya I guess, but I’d better go now… See ya around.” He dove almost instantly, barely making it out of view of Herakles, who surfaced moments later.

Kiku sat there, staring ahead at empty sea before Herakles appeared. What had just happened…?  
“Kiku?” Herakles asked, as soon as he surfaced and noticed the look on his friend’s face. “Did anything happen?”  
“I… I am not really sure…” Kiku stuttered, finding the whole thing completely odd.  
Herakles frowned, instantly worried. “You know you can tell me…” He assured, climbing up onto the rocks and looking Kiku over with concern.  
“I…” Kiku looked down. Was it really worth worrying Herakles about?  
“I mean,” Herakles continued, his heart skipping a beat. What had happened to Kiku? Herakles felt extremely nervous, and wanted to make sure his friend was safe. He possibly felt just a little too concerned for these feelings to be ordinary friendship, but he didn’t notice this. “I would trust you enough to tell you things… So you can trust me too. I promise I’ll do my best to help you with whatever’s on your mind.”   
Kiku nodded, looking down at the water. He had been concerned about the other merman and his actions from before for the last few days. It hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind, but now a second appearance from the mysterious merman had brought the issue to his attention again. Despite the fact that he had apologised for before and seemed to be behaving far more reasonably and far less suspiciously, Kiku still wasn’t sure he could trust him. Maybe Herakles could clear things up? At the very least, he could warn Kiku if this particular merman was in fact a threat. You never could tell after all.  
“Well…” He began. “I have had some trouble… With another merperson, visiting this place before you arrive. He has appeared twice now, and each time… He makes me uneasy. He almost seems to be avoiding you, with how quickly he disappears. So I suppose more than anything… Is he a threat? Should I be cautious of him?” He finally voiced, not wanting to inconvenience Herakles, but concerned more than anything. Herakles jumped up immediately.  
“What?! Kiku, what was his name?” He asked, on edge like never before. Kiku wasn’t safe if there were other merpeople who knew about the time they spent here! Herakles had one name in particular in mind for a culprit.  
“I… I did not ever learn his name,” Kiku recoiled a little from Herakles’s sudden energy, not used to seeing the usually lax merman like this.  
“I see… Can you describe him?” Herakles asked, no less concerned.  
“Well… He was very flashy… His tail and fins were red… And he seemed to be wearing some sort of mask on his face…” The human described, the worry evident in Herakles’s eyes making him slightly afraid as well.  
“Him…” Herakles almost hissed, his face scrunching up. So Sadik had been behind this! He turned to Kiku.  
“You should be very wary of him… He’s a complete jerk. I don’t trust him myself,” he told the human. Kiku nodded, filing the information away. So the merman was not very nice… Still, Herakles hadn’t said he was downright dangerous… it seemed more to Kiku like Herakles just personally disliked the other merman than anything. He found it curious, but didn’t question it. Herakles meanwhile, fell silent and took to thinking. If Sadik had found them here… Then it wouldn’t be safe to keep meeting Kiku as he had been. He would have to do things differently somehow. After all, keeping Kiku safe was the most important thing.

That was when Herakles first started to truly question what he felt for Kiku.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles speaks to his family and confronts Sadik. Kiku does not compute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Herakles's family are so open and supportive and just nice. They're really close so it figures.
> 
> If this story were to be split into two stories, this would be the last event in the first. By which I mean that the first 'arc' is coming to a close.

When Herakles returned to the pod that evening, he immediately rounded on Sadik. “What was the meaning of that earlier?” He demanded, swimming up to the other merman.  
“Come on, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to mess around a little… I never would have brought any harm to that human,” Sadik shot back, clearly angry at the accusatory tone in Herakles’s voice.  
“You made him uncomfortable, you jerk. I don’t care if it is a joke to you… I care about my friends enough to not want him to have to feel that way,” Herakles hissed.  
“Heh, friends huh? You seem a little too invested in that boy to be just a friend to him,” Sadik sneered, snorting before Herakles pushed him harshly, turning to swim off.  
“Shut up,” Herakles answered, not feeling in the mood to talk, but at the same time with a racing mind and pounding heart. More than a friend…? Did Sadik really mean something like that? Herakles had to find out.

“Mama?” The merman called into the coral, swimming around the usual resting places his mother frequented, his hands wringing together nervously. He wasn’t sure about this, but he knew that he couldn’t keep it in any longer. The others had said that his mother wasn’t out hunting, so she should be here somewhere…  
“Herakles? Is that you?” Helene called from deeper within the formation, swimming outwards to meet her son. “Is everything alright? Did something happen?” She asked, noticing his nervousness through his voice, his face, the movements of his hands.  
“Well, I’m not really sure how to describe it…” Herakles began, wanting to try to get these strange feelings out of himself before they got any more serious. His heart was still pounding after his fight with Sadik. “I feel strange…”  
“Is everything okay? Are you sick?” His mother asked worriedly, pulling closer to Herakles, placing her hand carefully onto his cheek.  
“I don’t think it’s that… Although, I’m not sure…” He replied, shaking his head. He honestly didn’t have any idea what was going on. “My heart is beating really fast, and I can’t stop thinking about things… I suppose lately I could be acting more irritable too…”   
Helene frowned, nudging Herakles’s cheek with her forehead, trying to check him over. “Why don’t you think you’re sick? Is there anything that’s happened that explains this?” She pressed, really wanting to help her son as much as she was able to.  
“Well… I was speaking to Sadik earlier… He suggested that one of my friends… Could be more than a friend to me. At first I thought he was totally wrong… But now I just don’t know.” Herakles sighed. What was getting into him?  
“A crush on someone? I suppose those kinds of feelings can cause you to feel strange and irritable sometimes… And they can certainly make your heart beat faster…” Helene smiled. “You’re fully grown now Herakles, you’re old enough to get a mate if you want. You should tell your friend how you feel about her.”  
“Ah…” Herakles looked down before he spoke in reply. “Him, mama”  
“Oh, of course.” Helene blinked. “Is that what you were worried about? I really don’t mind, nobody would think any less of you…”  
Herakles was almost entirely sure that if he told everyone he was talking about a human male, they actually would care. A lot. But he didn’t want to talk to his mother about that at the time. “It’s not really that… I suppose I was just confused about it all. But it seems clearer now.” He told her.  
Helene nodded knowingly, embracing her son in comfort. “It’s alright, I understand. Young mermen your age often feel confused… Working out who you want to be with… it can be difficult. I’m always here to help you figure out any feelings you may be having,” she reiterated her support.

At this point, Loukas swam into the coral, looking for his brother. He saw that Helene and Herakles seemed to be talking about something, and got a little more curious.  
“Ah, you’re all in here. Has anything happened?” He asked, swimming closer to his family.  
“Herakles was telling me about a crush he’s developed on someone,” Helene answered, frankly.  
“Ah. Have you told them yet?” Loukas inquired simply. Their family was normally open about this kind of thing, so he didn’t see a problem with talking like that.  
“Well, not yet…” Herakles sighed. He did want to talk to Kiku about it… But he really wasn’t sure how the other would react. His mother’s words had left him confident in the assertion that he did like Kiku that way, but he was still unsure how to proceed.  
“Okay. You should just tell them though. It’s better that they know. Getting the feelings out in the open instead of bottling them up is important. Even if they don’t feel the same way, it’ll be better for your friendship if you don’t keep it hidden,” his brother offered in advice, smiling slightly.  
Helene nodded in agreement. “He’s right Hera… Your friend won’t think any worse of you for it, I’m sure of that.”  
Herakles nodded, reassured. “Okay then,” he agreed. “I’ll talk to him when I can.”  
“That sounds good,” Loukas concurred. “Be sure to keep us posted on how it goes. We’ll help you more if we can,” he added.  
“I’d love to know who it is that you like,” Helene pondered. “Even if you do seem a little reluctant to talk about it.”  
“I suppose you could say… That for now at least, it’s a secret,” Herakles responded. His family seemed okay with it on a whole, respecting his decision.  
“Okay, so long as you know we’re always here to talk,” Helene summed up, Loukas nodding to affirm.   
Herakles nodded, his mind already forming plans for how he was going to tell Kiku. Tomorrow, he would make his feelings known.

Kiku walked out towards the rocks the next morning, yawning happily from the good night’s rest he had enjoyed. The day was warm and sunny, and seemed perfect for meeting Herakles again. Kiku wasn’t to know what was going to happen. As he sat carefully at the usual meeting place and waited for his friend to arrive, the human took the time to look out over the sea and admire the view, wondering if he should paint it. Overall, the day so far seemed slow and peaceful.  
Herakles broke the surface soon after, spotting Kiku immediately and swimming over to him. He felt nervous. Despite however many times he had gone over it in his head, he still found himself unsure as to what exactly he was going to say, as if the words had flown out of his head at the last moment. Trying to steel himself, and above all to not show his nerves, the merman smiled at the human before pulling himself out of the water. He could do this.  
“Good morning,” he began, smiling still.  
“Hello Herakles. It is nice to see you again,” Kiku replied fondly. Herakles nodded, taking a few deep breaths, convincing himself he had nothing to lose.  
“It’s good to see you too Kiku…” He looked down at the sea. “Can we talk for a moment?”  
The human looked puzzled at his words. “Aren’t we already talking? I thought that was why we were meeting up today,” he pondered, trying to grasp what Herakles meant.  
“Well, I guess we are… But I meant that I wanted to talk to you about something important,” Herakles continued, his voice faulting a little as nerves started to show through again. He tried to swallow it down.  
“Oh? If it’s important, then of course we can talk about it,” Kiku replied, eyebrows raising a little. He wasn’t sure what was so important that Herakles would want to talk to him of all people about it though. Surely he would go to his brother for help with most things?  
“Well…” The merman began, nerves really starting to show as he began to speak. “I’ve been thinking a lot about things recently… I spoke to Sadik after yesterday, and he told me his opinion… On certain matters. And then I asked my family too, and came to a kind of conclusion…” He fell silent for a moment, trying to calm himself.  
“About what?” Kiku encouraged, noticing that Herakles seemed nervous about something, and trying to reassure him. At the same time, he felt slightly anxious about it as well. If Herakles was this emotional over it, in his eyes it had to be important.  
“About… The way I feel about you. About our relationship… Recently, I’ve been feeling strange a lot of the time,” he confessed, wringing his hands together. “I’ve been more on edge, and at first I thought that was just because the rest of the pod was getting suspicious, and I didn’t want to put you in harm’s way. But after what Sadik said, I’ve started to realise that it’s more than that. It’s been building up over time, and after talking to my family about it I thought it was best that I tell you now, rather than keep this secret for any length of time,” Herakles realised he was rambling, and looked up at Kiku concernedly.

“What… What feeling are you talking about? What do you mean?” Kiku asked, his heart starting to beat faster. He didn’t understand this sort of thing much at all. What was going on?  
“Well, these feelings… My heart beats faster at certain points, especially times like this, and when you’re around… And my face heats up and I feel all nervous. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I was also getting a lot more irritable when I felt there were threats to you. And I kept thinking about my feelings.” He described. Kiku nodded, feeling increasingly on edge. He was almost starting to feel the exact things Herakles was describing.  
“And then,” Herakles continued, “When I spoke to Sadik, he suggested that we actually weren’t friends at all. I felt confused, and so I talked first to my mama and then to Loukas. And then I came to the conclusion about what this all could mean.” He took a deep breath, realising that he was dragging this out, but needing this much time to get the courage for what he was going to say.  
“What was that conclusion?” Kiku felt just a little giddy, almost being able to guess at what was going to happen, but still not quite believing or understanding it. He still didn’t want this to eat Herakles with worry though. Overall, he was conflicted.  
“That I… Like you more than a friend would. That I have a crush on you,” Herakles stated, blushing quite a bit. It was hard to say, but he was relieved just to get it out finally.  
Kiku meanwhile, stammered incomprehensible nonsense for a few seconds, still unable to process what he’d been told. He didn’t know how to react. He didn’t know how he felt about Herakles, and he wasn’t sure what to tell him. He hadn’t really seen it coming before today; he had always just assumed he and Herakles were friends. He wasn’t used to this. Unprepared. So he did the only thing he could think of.

Kiku ran away.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku figures some things out, Herakles is suffering alone and Sadik is confused as to what's happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, all of my deadlines and test dates came within the same two weeks, and I then had to pack to move back home for Christmas. I'm back to normal now though, so regular updates should resume.
> 
> Kiku figures a lot of things out this chapter, which is for the best since Herakles seems to be suffering. From here on out it'll get better for them though.

“Kiku? Are you okay?” Yao asked that evening, as Kiku returned home. The human had been roaming around the town for the rest of the day since running from Herakles, feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and also nervous and afraid, still not knowing what to do. At one point, he had sat at the fountain in the square and pondered the waters, even throwing a coin in and wishing for an easy resolution to the issue he was facing. Of course, life isn’t that simple, but it did make him feel a little better.

“Um, well…” Kiku replied to his brother, trying to come up with an answer, but Yao, as ever, already had one in mind.  
“Oh! Is this some kind of girl trouble?” he pre-empted, somehow determining that purely from the look on his younger brother’s face.  
“Well… Sort of?” Kiku replied. He really wasn’t sure how to tell Yao this was actually guy trouble.   
“Really? Why didn't you tell me sooner?” Yao answered, shaking his head. “Honestly Kiku.” He walked up to the younger and placed a 'reassuring' hand on his shoulder. “So, what happened?”  
Kiku found himself looking nervously around the house, searching for any of the rest of the family.  
“Could we please not talk about this here?” He requested, blushing a little.  
“Right, right, we'll go upstairs.” Yao accepted, smiling.

“So what is it about girls you're having such trouble with?” The older brother started, once they were safely locked in Kiku's room and away from any disturbance. Kiku had to resist the urge to correct him as he spoke.  
“I suppose... I am not sure what to do next.” He admitted, looking to his feet. “How are you supposed to respond... When someone tells you they like you?”  
Yao caught on to what he was getting at. “Oh Kiku,” he sighed. “That depends on how you feel about them, silly!”  
“But what if I am unsure as to how I feel?” The younger brother pressed.  
“Nobody's ever sure at the beginning.” Yao admitted. “You have to look down inside yourself and discover over time. You might have to do a lot of thinking before you can find the answer to that.”  
“I suppose.” Kiku reluctantly agreed. “But then, whenever I think about it, my mind just goes around in circles, and I get nowhere.”  
“Maybe that in itself is an answer.” Yao replied. “If you can't find an answer, yet you keep trying to look.”  
“I never thought about that... But I still want to think more.” Kiku decided.  
“Sure. Take all the time you need. You're still young after all.” Yao smiled, patting Kiku on the head. “And if you want to talk it over, I'm always here.” He turned around as he spoke and began walking towards the door.  
“...Thank you.” Kiku added as he was about to leave.  
“No problem.” Yao replied, still smiling to himself even as he walked back down the stairs to finish housework.

The next day, Kiku still didn't know what to think. He'd stayed up all night trying to figure everything out, lying awake in bed as thoughts swirled around ceaselessly. Wanting a second opinion, he’d decided to visit Feliciano. Yet almost as soon as he’d knocked on the door, he’d begun to regret his decision. After all, his friend could be very prying, and…  
“Kiku! So good to see you!” His Italian companion greeted, opening the door to his friend. “Quick, come in!”   
Kiku straightened instantly. It was too late now. “Of course,” he agreed, stepping into the house. “It is good to see you too Feli.”  
“Is there anything special you came to talk about? Because it’s still a few days until we’re meant to go to the beach with Luddy!” Feli continued, walking further into the house as Kiku followed him. 

“Actually, there was something…” Kiku trailed off, unsure as to how to word it.  
“Oh? Well, tell me about it then,” his friend smiled, reaching the living room and throwing himself onto one of the couches.   
“Well, you see…” Kiku began, sitting cautiously in one of the chairs in the room. “I suppose I could say that I’m having trouble with… How I feel about someone.” He worded carefully.  
“Oh? Girl trouble? That’s easy! I know all about girls.” Feli grinned, sitting up a little.  
“Ah, well… More like guy trouble…” Kiku muttered.  
“Hm? Oh, I should have known,” Feli shook his head. “I don’t mind Kiku, tell me all about your boyfriend.”  
“He’s not my boyfriend.” The smaller was quick to clarify.  
“But you want him to be?” The taller one assumed.  
“I don’t know.” Kiku admitted.  
“I see…” Feli hummed a little. “Well, does he make you happy?” He asked.  
“Hmm… I suppose he does.” Kiku shrugged. He was certainly happy when he spent time with Herakles, now that he thought about it.  
“And does it suck to not be with him? Is he the person you keep running off to see every day?” His friend continued.  
“That’s true…” Kiku accepted.   
“Well, to me that suggests that you do want to be his boyfriend.” Feli summed up. “You should tell him and see how things go. You don’t have to instantly be sleeping together or talking about getting married or even kissing if that’s not how you want things. You can go as slow as you want. It’s your relationship.” He advised.  
“You’re right.” Kiku nodded, thinking back to what Yao had said. Even if he wasn’t sure about Herakles, the fact that he kept trying to find an answer, and that he still wanted to see him even now more than spoke for itself. Perhaps he was more worried about how their relationship could develop, and it was clouding his judgement. If that was the case, he decided, then speaking to Herakles would sort everything out. He just had to tell him if he thought things were going too fast. Suddenly, it seemed a lot clearer to him.

“Ah, this is so cool though. Kiku falling in love, Luddy’s dad getting elected… We’ve had a busy few months, no?” The Italian giggled a bit to himself. “But it’s fun that way… Oh yeah, and you are coming to the inauguration, right? Luddy even said he’d make sure we were invited personally.”  
Kiku stared for a moment before he could agree. Ludwig’s father becoming mayor… He’d forgotten completely about it with everything that had happened in the last month. He instantly felt bad for it, and shook his head to clear his thoughts.  
“Of course. I couldn’t miss it.” He agreed.  
“Yeah, it’ll be really cool!” Feliciano continued. “Oh, perhaps I should ask Luddy to let your boyfriend in too!” He suggested.  
“Oh, well.” Kiku wasn’t sure how to react to that. There was no way Herakles would be able to go. In fact, if he did turn up, the townspeople would probably draw their weapons before welcoming him in. But he couldn’t tell Feliciano that, so he tried to make an inventive cover story.  
“Well, he doesn’t really like social situations, so I’m not sure he’d want to come.” He lied.  
“Too bad. Maybe we can meet him sometime when there’s no one else around then?” Feliciano shrugged off.  
“Perhaps,” Kiku replied noncommittally. He was pretty sure Feliciano would freak out if he knew the truth. Better to keep him innocent.

Later on that evening, once Feliciano had run out of conversation, Kiku was able to extract himself with the excuse of dinner with his family, and set about heading home, the course of action now clear in his mind. He would accept Herakles’s feelings and trust the merman to respect his own desires and not overwhelm him with affection. Just as he was feeling sure though, he drew close to his house and became able to view the sea, and his heart sank. He had gone an entire day without appearing at the rocks at all. Considering the way he had left the rocks the day before, Kiku suddenly became well aware of the possibility that Herakles had already assumed his own feelings to be unrequited. And if that were the case… Perhaps the merman would not be waiting for him. Perhaps he would be too busy nursing a broken heart to appear again for a long time. If that were to happen… What would Kiku do?

Herakles opened his eyes and stared at the roof of the coral, remembering something Kiku had told him once about the roofs of houses on the land- suddenly a pang of regret surfaced again, and he curled into himself and whimpered.  
It stung. It really stung, and this was despite him sleeping for… However long it had been. He was pretty sure Loukas had tried to talk to him at least once, to comfort him or discover what was wrong or something, but Herakles hadn’t been in the mood to talk. He still wasn’t. He just wanted to lie still for as long as he could, and try to will the pain away. But he couldn’t forget. He had seen the confusion, panic and fear in Kiku’s eyes and hated that he had been the cause of that distress. But he had been so sure, so ready to tell the human how he felt. He hadn’t even cared that he was from the sea and Kiku from the land. Suddenly, he felt as though he had acted all too rashly. After all, he hadn’t even asked Kiku if he already had a mate! In fact, he wasn’t even sure he was attracted to human males, let alone merpeople! Herakles sighed and ran a hand down his face. He had been a fool. A total fool. And all he could think about was the chance that he had offended Kiku so much that he’d ruined their friendship. That thought hurt the most. It caused him to curl into a tighter ball and sob a little.

Herakles continued to lie there until he eventually fell asleep again. Helene watched him worriedly, but knew there was nothing she could do. Loukas wanted to help, but was unsure as to how to begin. Herakles wouldn’t even tell them what was wrong.  
And he had been laid out like that for over a day.

Sadik sat upon the rock by the shore, wondering if the human was going to ever appear. The sun was setting, red colours matching the hue of his tail, so he was becoming convinced that it wasn’t going to happen. He had been hoping to find the human before Herakles again, perhaps tease them both a little, but there had been no sightings of the man at all. And when Sadik stopped to think, he realised that he hadn’t seen Herakles that day either.  
“Tha hell is goin’ on?” He questioned.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku and Herakles finally sort things out with a little help from Sadik.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone. Have some fluff.

When Kiku woke early the next morning, the only thing on his mind was telling Herakles how he felt. Convinced it was the correct course of action to take, he dressed as quickly as he could and ran straight out of the door, not even stopping to check whether any members of his family were awake. He carried on walking, focused entirely on getting to the rocks, until he was standing on the beach. Ahead of him, he saw a figure sitting on the rocks. His heart pounded. He walked forwards.

“Hey,” Sadik began, not even turning to regard the human as he drew near. “I know I’m not Herakles. He ain’t come here.” Kiku’s heart sank. Had he hurt the normally docile merman that much?  
“He’s been moping around under there.” The flashier merman continued, pointing into the water. “I have no clue why. Guy’s bein’ a brat if ya ask me.” He sighed a little. “But well… Ya seem like an alright guy for a human to me, and I don’t really want him dragging the mood down either so… Tell me what happened.” He fixed his gaze on the human finally.  
“W-well…” Kiku stuttered. It was embarrassing to talk about it with a stranger…  
“He say somethin’ to ya?” Sadik pressed.  
“He said he… Liked me.” Kiku blurted out.  
“Really? That’s it? He’s all depressed over that?” Sadik ranted. “Whatever. What about you? Ya like him back?”  
“I think so?” Kiku replied.  
“Well, good enough. Man, I have no idea why the brat’s so down if that’s how it is…” Sadik mused.  
“I don’t think he knows that.” Kiku suggested.  
“Oh, really?” Sadik sighed exasperatedly, finally understanding. “Wait here then.” He pointed to the rock and leapt back into the water, diving immediately. Kiku felt nervous. He felt fidgety. And he could do nothing but sit and wait.

Herakles stared up at the roof of the coral dejectedly. His mother had tried to rouse him earlier, but he felt like nothing but sleep. As he turned his head to the side to glimpse at the rest of the pod, he noticed Sadik’s flashy tail flitting about. He could recognise his rival from a long distance, so he couldn’t see what he was doing. He sighed and closed his eyes. He didn’t care for the jerk.

Sadik swam back towards the coral he knew Herakles was moping in. He knew he could fix things. Unfortunately, he hadn’t informed the matriarch of his plan, and Helene caught him before he even reached the entrance.  
“Leave Herakles alone. He’s upset enough as it is without the likes of you interfering.” She growled, clearly maternal and defensive.  
“But I know what’s wrong with him and I know how to end it.” Sadik protested.  
“Go on…” Loukas encouraged suspiciously, swimming up on Sadik’s other side.  
“Basically, Herakles likes this guy. I’m guessing you know that much?” Sadik started, deliberately leaving out the human part. He knew they’d freak out at that. “So, he told him yesterday and he was totally stunned. Just kinda stopped for a minute. Or at least that’s what I figure must’ve happened. So anyway, Herakles takes it as a rejection or whatever and now he’s all down, but he never gave the guy a chance to think! And I saw him this mornin’ and he really does like Herakles and so now I have to get him out of this slump so he can be happy. Or somethin’.”   
“Why do you care?” Helene queried, suspicious.   
“Well, I guess I’m friends with the other guy… But aside from that, I can’t have Herakles feeling like this! Who will I compete with?” Sadik responded, making sure not to mention the parts where he got Herakles into trouble. Or outright fought with him. But hey, there really was no better rival.  
“Fine. Go on then,” the mother accepted, allowing Sadik to swim into the coral itself.  
“You won’t regret this.” He insisted, waving to Herakles’s family as he began to swim forwards.

“Come on brat, get up.” Sadik scowled, poking Herakles in the cheek after successfully locating the merman.  
“Why should I get up for a jerk like you?” The calmer merman shot back, rolling over.   
“Yer mate is waiting for ya.” The flashier one replied.  
“I don’t have one.” Herakles spat, sitting up.  
“Well ya should.” Sadik announced, pulling Herakles up by the wrist and beginning to lead him out of the coral.   
“Where are you taking me?” He demanded.  
“Trust me, you’ll thank me later.” Sadik sighed.

It had been over half an hour, and Kiku was becoming convinced Sadik was playing around with him. He was in the middle of debating going home, his heart heavy, when there was a resounding splash and Sadik came into view, dragging a reluctant looking Herakles. Kiku stood up, ready to run away. Herakles didn’t look like he wanted to see him. But then the merman actually did set eyes on him, and his whole expression softened instantly.  
“Kiku?” He asked hopefully, swimming quickly towards the human.   
“Herakles,” Kiku nodded, sitting back down on the rock. He had to deal with this now.  
“You came back…” The merman smiled, reaching out for the smaller human. “You weren’t here yesterday. I thought you didn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”  
“I had to think. But I’m okay now,” Kiku explained.  
“Well, I’ll just be leavin’ the two of ya to yerselves. See ya around Herakles!” Sadik cut in before diving back under the waves.  
“You’ll still be my friend?” Herakles asked, looking a little worried.  
“I…” Kiku breathed in heavily, and caught Herakles’s hand as the merman continued to reach out for him. “I want to be with you. I do like you.”  
“You do?” The merman murmured hopefully, feeling the hand gripping his own. It was suddenly as though the day before had never happened, and they were back to where they’d been when Herakles had confessed for the first time.  
“Yes. I do.” Kiku confirmed.  
Herakles sighed in relief. It may have taken a while longer than he’d been expecting, but in the end his feelings had been accepted. He felt a surge of happiness and longing, and found himself tugging on Kiku’s hand, dragging the human from the rock and into his arms, making sure to catch him properly so he didn’t fall into the water. 

Kiku gasped, expecting to be submerged and feeling a little concerned. When Herakles caught him, he felt relieved despite the fact he was wet. He idled awkwardly while Herakles held him affectionately, squeezing him a little before nuzzling his face. After a moment of this though, Herakles pulled away.   
“Is something wrong?” Kiku asked concernedly.  
“You’re shivering… Is something wrong?” Herakles asked.  
“I’m fine. I’m only feeling a little bit cold,” the human reassured.  
“Oh, right. The water.” Herakles realised, climbing back up onto the rock while still holding Kiku with one arm. They ended up sat on the rock together with Kiku leant into Herakles’s side. “I’m just happy… It makes me so happy to be with you finally.”  
“I’m glad,” Kiku responded, smiling a little. He began to feel as though everything was right as he sat there with the merman. He knew he had made the right decision.  
“Hmm…” Herakles took to thinking, content now that it all seemed to be resolved. Suddenly, he looked up as though remembering something. Before Kiku could ask him what he was thinking about, the merman leant down and kissed the human firmly. Kiku’s eyes widened, and his mind raced as he struggled to work out whether he liked it or not. The feeling was something that was foreign to him, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Yet Herakles looked purely content and happy, and it eased Kiku a little. But when Herakles wrapped both of his arms back around Kiku and tried to deepen the kiss, opening his mouth and pressing his parted lips against Kiku’s, the human found himself pulling away. He pulled a disgusted face before he could stop himself, and coughed a little once there was some distance between his face and Herakles’s.   
“What’s wrong?” Herakles asked, worried.  
“I got seawater in my mouth…” Kiku grimaced.  
“I see…” Herakles smiled. “Is that something you don’t like?”   
“I normally like salt. But this water is too much,” Kiku explained.  
“Did you like it though? Other than that?” The merman checked, not wanting to make Kiku upset in any way.  
“I would… Do it again,” the human accepted.  
“Good.” Herakles smiled, before apparently falling deep into thought. Kiku stared out to sea and let him think. 

“…Does your kind have particular mating rituals or other similar traditions?” Herakles suddenly asked curiously, looking towards Kiku again. “I don’t want to cause you any offense.”  
“Oh, w-well…” Kiku stalled. He hadn’t expected things to go this quickly! How could Herakles be thinking about that already?  
“I suppose…” He thought, trying to come up with a good answer that also stated his needs without being too blunt. “We normally go on dates before we do things like that. Take some time to just be in each other’s company.”  
“Dates…” Herakles mused. “Like what we do here every day normally?”  
“Normally it’s more romantic than that…” Kiku pointed out. “For example, you would go for a walk, watch the sunset, eat together while talking about whatever you want.”  
“Ah, so you have fun together and also see nice things…” Herakles considered. “That sounds like fun… I’d like to go on a date with Kiku.”  
Kiku nodded. “Okay then. We’ll have to think of things that we could do.”  
“We could sit here until the sun goes down,” Herakles suggested. “And properly consider the things around us. And talk.” He cuddled the human close to himself. Kiku felt warm, if a little swamped with affection and emotions that were still new to him.   
“That sounds… Like a good day,” he finally responded, trying to come to terms with it all.  
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Herakles asked insistently. “Are you sick?” He frowned and pressed his forehead against Kiku’s.  
“I’m fine, honestly,” the human repeated. “It’s just a lot of things to happen in one day. It makes me feel tired.”  
“Then sleep… I would like to nap with Kiku.” Herakles decided.   
“It… Might be nice.” Kiku agreed.  
“Then sleep. I’ll stay with you.” Herakles assured, lying down fully on the rock with Kiku still in his arms. Despite finding the situation awkward, Kiku fell asleep quickly, and Herakles smiled down at him before following.

“Kiku… Wake up, the sun will go down,” Herakles called, shaking the human awake.  
“What?” Kiku inquired groggily, sitting up.  
“You slept all day.” Herakles smiled. “You must have been tired. The sun is about to set though. We should watch.”  
“Ah, of course.” The human nodded, sitting up properly and stretching a little. Before them, the sun was disappearing beneath the horizon, casting pink rays across the waves of the sea as it did so. The result made them sparkle and appear peaceful. Kiku had to admit it; it did look beautiful.  
“This is very pretty. I can see why humans do this.” Herakles commented before turning to Kiku. “How long do humans date for?”  
“Well, they can date forever, even after… You know.” Kiku blushed as he spoke before continuing. “But normally, at least three dates is the minimum.”  
“That sounds nice. I wouldn’t like to stop doing this for any reason.” Herakles expressed.  
Kiku nodded and continued to watch the sunset. The shape of the sun began to disappear before his eyes, and the colours it let off were cast across the sea and the sky. It looked truly majestic, and became even more beautiful to Kiku the longer it went on. Pinks, purples, blues and reds all played a part in the display. He looked over to see Herakles was just as pleased, and smiled at the thought.

As they watched, less and less of the sun was visible as it sunk below the horizon. Eventually there was nothing left.  
“We’d better go.” Herakles pointed out.  
“We had.” Kiku agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow though?”  
“Of course. We can think about what to do for our next date.” Herakles suggested, smiling.  
“Okay,” Kiku accepted, standing up. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Ah, Kiku!” Herakles remembered, pulling the human back down by the sleeve and planting another short kiss on his lips. “Bye.”  
“Oh…” Kiku blinked at the kiss, still not used to that. “Goodbye.” He waved to Herakles as he got to his feet and began making his way home. Herakles watched until he was out of sight.

“Hey, so ya sorted everythin’, right?” Sadik assumed as Herakles returned to the pod.  
“Yeah. I hate to admit it, but I probably have to thank you.” Herakles replied.  
“Great. I’ll be sure to bring it up fer forever.” Sadik smirked. “Seriously though, it’s good to have ya back to yerself. Everyone was worried.”  
“Since when did you care?” Herakles shrugged, swimming off.  
“Who knows?” Sadik mused to himself.

“Kiku! You were gone all day! Is everything okay?” Yao asked, walking into Kiku’s room. The man continued to lie on his bed, looking up at the ceiling and trying to process everything that had happened that day.   
“Kiku? Seriously, answer me,” Yao pressed.  
“…I think I’m in love.” The younger finally responded.  
“Really? You finally decided that?” Yao asked.  
“I suppose.” Kiku mused.  
“How do you feel?” His brother checked, moving to sit on the side of the bed.  
“…Strange, actually.” Kiku decided.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles explores a few more facts of humanity and gets to eat roast fish with Kiku. They receive a warning about their chances of getting caught. Meanwhile, Yao becomes suspicious that Kiku's actions are too strange for simple first love, and Feliciano plans a celebration.

The next day, Kiku set out to the rocks early once again, wanting to get back to Herakles as quickly as possible. As he walked over the sand, he closed his eyes and allowed the morning sun to soak into his skin. It was a lovely day to be outside with somebody you loved. He kept up a buoyant mood as he walked onto the rocks and settled down to wait for Herakles.

The merman himself was worried. He was certain he’d spotted one of the other mermen watching him intently. He tried to feign fishing as well as he could, and sighed in relief when he saw a figure swim off in the corner of his eye. Regardless, he remained concerned for Kiku’s safety. He took off towards the rocks, wanting to make it as soon as he could. He didn’t truly feel safe until he was above the waves and looking at Kiku, so that he could see he was unharmed. As he swam up to his mate, an idea formed in his mind.  
“Kiku…” He started, pulling himself up onto the rock. “Let’s go to the cave today.”  
“Really?” The human responded, looking back and forth between Herakles and the cave behind them. “If that’s what you want to do…”  
“I’d like it,” Herakles insisted softly. “It’s good to go to different places, right? And it could bring variety to our dates.”  
“Alright.” The human agreed, getting to his feet. “I’ll see you in a few minutes then.”   
“Okay.” Herakles replied, diving under the waves again as Kiku skipped back over the rocks and back to the beach before walking along the area until reaching the mouth of the cave.

Herakles meanwhile found the opening in the rock he had escaped from when he had first met Kiku and squeezed his way back through into the cave itself. He appeared back on the surface as Kiku walked onto the sand of the cave and sat at the water’s edge. Herakles swam closer to him, his face philosophical again.  
“Those feet things you have… What do they look like under your clothes?” He pondered.  
“Um… You want to see my feet?” Kiku blushed.   
“Yes… Is that a problem?” Herakles looked a little hurt. “Is that something your kind find intimate? You can study my tail if you want to.”   
“Oh, well. It’s weird more than anything else.” The human tried to explain.   
“I see. I suppose on the land everyone has feet so it’s odd to consider them interesting. But I have never seen feet before.” Herakles considered.  
“Well, I suppose if that’s the case…” Kiku relented, peeling off one of his shoes and the corresponding sock. Herakles reached out for the appendage.  
“This is what feet look like…” He mused, stroking it a little. Kiku blushed redder. It felt strangely nice to be touched so gently…

“Your skin is always so dry… Doesn’t it itch you at all?” Herakles asked.  
“Occasionally, but not often.” Kiku answered. “People on the land don’t need to be covered in water all of the time. It wouldn’t work with us living on the land all of the time.”  
“That sounds convenient. You can stay on the land as long as you want.” Herakles commented.   
“But we cannot stay in the sea for a long time.” Kiku responded. “We just drown if we stay under the water. And even the best of us can’t swim for that long. Certainly not compared to you.”  
“Ah. Right. That would be bad for us. I suppose that is the trade-off we have.” Herakles decided, still exploring Kiku’s foot with his hand. He idly felt along each of the toes, wondering how it was that they could be so… Separate from each other. The closest things he had to toes were his fingers, and even those were joined with thick webbing. He guessed that the humans would have been inconvenienced on the land if they had had webbed toes. While thinking this over, he moved his hand lower and over the arch of the foot proper.

As he brushed over one piece of skin, Kiku began to giggle a little. Curious, the merman repeated his action and got the same response. He decided to carry on in the same vein, and Kiku became less and less composed until he was laughing uncontrollably. Herakles wasn’t sure what to do, and dropped Kiku’s foot awkwardly.   
“Are you okay?” He checked.  
“I… I’m just ticklish there.” Kiku reassured, managing to calm down now that he had been left alone.  
“Ticklish?” Herakles queried.  
“Yes. It is when you cannot help but laugh when someone touches you in such a place. It can be fairly random… And while some find it amusing, it can also be annoying since you can’t stop yourself.” Kiku stated.  
“Of course. I don’t want you to feel annoyed. I was only curious. If it upsets you I won’t do it again.” Herakles responded.  
“It’s not that upsetting. I don’t mind too much. As long as I can breathe.” Kiku accepted.  
“Even so. I think I should leave you alone for the rest of the day. I don’t want to violate your boundaries.” Herakles fretted.  
“If that is what you want.” Kiku agreed, moving to put his shoe back on. As he brought his hands up to his foot he noticed that it had become damp. He looked over to Herakles to find the merman looking at his own hands.  
“You really are wet all of the time.” He commented.  
“It is very uncomfortable for us when we dry out.” Herakles replied. “So I suppose I do seem to be wet to you.”  
“Do you need to go back into deeper water?” Kiku worried, looking at how Herakles was now almost beached in the shallow water.  
“It would be nice… Maybe I should get us some fish to eat? Are you hungry?”  
“I’d like to eat some fish with you. Although I’d have to cook it.” Kiku added.  
“Then build one of those fire things. I’ll go catch something.” Herakles planned, rolling himself back into the deeper water before diving to hunt for fish while Kiku sat on the shore and waited.

Herakles swam through the waters searching for something he thought Kiku might eat. He wasn’t carrying a spear with him, although he did have a net in the bag he often took out with him. He saw some fish swimming up ahead and decided they’d have to do. Diving low so that he wasn’t seen, he removed the net from the bag, stretched it between some rocks and took a wide, curving arch to swim up behind the fish, startling and herding them into the net. A few got stuck and began to struggle, and as Herakles reached the net he tied it up to keep them in place before swimming back to Kiku, his catch held firmly in one hand.  
As he got close to the cave, he was spotted. Without even knowing, Herakles was watched as he squeezed through the hole in the rocks and swam on into the shallower water. The red tail of the pursuing merman flicked as he decided to wait for his chance.

Kiku had a roaring fire going by the time Herakles arrived back at the cave. Immediately the merman tried to swim close to the fire, and Kiku had to pull him out of the way.  
“It’s hot.” He explained.  
Herakles nodded, reached into his bag and pulled out the fish he had caught. Kiku smiled a little and set about impaling them on sticks and roasting them over the fire.  
“Can you eat those?” The merman checked.   
“These are edible, yes.” The human assured. “You’re pretty quick at catching fish.”  
“You’re good at making fire.” Herakles replied.  
“It’s not that impressive.” Kiku insisted.  
“It is to me.” Herakles argued. “And I love you. I don’t care what other humans do.”  
Kiku blushed and turned to the fire again.  
“I… I love you too.” He admitted. Herakles smiled, thinking his mate to be cute when he acted like that.

Once the fish were cooked, Kiku grabbed the sticks and turned back to Herakles, handing him some of the cooked fish. The merman took the food with thanks, and settled down to eat some human cooking.  
“I like this.” He praised, sinking his teeth into the flesh of the fish. “It tastes so much different when you cook it.”  
“I’m glad.” Kiku commented, smiling a little as he ate his own meal.   
“Well, hello lovebirds! Mind if I crash yer party?” Came a voice from behind them. Kiku looked over Herakles to see Sadik treading water in the middle of the cave, watching them intently. He gasped, not sure of what to do. Herakles followed his gaze and growled.   
“What do you want!?” He demanded.  
“Nothin’. I don’t exactly want any harm to come to either of ya. So I came to point out how easily someone could find ya… If they decided to follow fish brain here.” He swam closer to Herakles and patted the merman’s head. Kiku tensed, as though ready to fight if he had to, even though he was pretty sure Sadik wasn’t a real threat.  
“Don’t touch me.” Herakles warned, while inside his mind was racing. He felt guilty for putting Kiku in danger.  
“Whatever.” Sadik huffed. “Act how ya want around me. But maybe if ya care about yer little human ya’d listen. There’s a bay around the coast a little way, just over the coral. I dunno how ya’d get there from the land. But I do know that the merpeople rarely go there. And when I was last there I saw no humans either. If ya wanna have some sappy love-ins or whatever the hell yer doin’, I’d go there.”  
“Thank you.” Kiku expressed, bowing a little, even though his heart was still pounding from the shock of Sadik’s sudden appearance.  
“No problem. I’d hate to see somethin’ so pretty get all messed up by my kind.” Sadik shrugged off.  
“As if I’d let that happen.” Herakles growled.  
“Then listen to me.” Sadik warned. “And yer welcome Herakles!” He added as he turned back into the water and swam off.  
Kiku breathed hard for a few moments before he spoke. “I think we should follow his advice.” He suggested.  
Herakles sighed. “You’re probably right.” He relented.

As Kiku walked back to the town that evening, hoping the scent of burning didn’t stick to his clothes, he walked straight into Feliciano.  
“Kiku! Just the man I wanted to see!” He exclaimed, jumping back.  
“Really? Did something happen?” His friend requested.  
“Well yeah! Luddy’s dad’s getting sworn in in two days! You are coming, right?” The taller man chirped.  
“Of course. I said I’d come.” Kiku answered.  
“Great! I’ll meet you there then!” His friend grinned, beginning to move back towards the body of the town. “See you soon Kiku!” He waved as he walked off.  
“See you later Feliciano.” Kiku replied, waving.

By the time Kiku had returned home, Sadik’s words of warning had almost been pushed from his mind. But he never quite forgot the caution, or the chill it had given him. The imprint of those words continued to dwell within the human as he prepared himself for bed that evening. Without giving anything away, Yao watched his brother wearily, sensing that something was up. He resolved to find out what was happening with Kiku… Without the younger man knowing anything about it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Herakles doesn't understand clothes at all and assumes Kiku must really not understand the meaning of the word 'intimate' considering how often he uses it. Kiku and Herakles meanwhile explore the bay Sadik pointed them towards, and Yao begins his own investigations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so strange writing these two as an actual couple after so many chapters of having them slowly building up to this. 
> 
> I also planned out the rest of the story and can now confidently state the number of total chapters as thirty, which is why I edited the counter on the work's page.

Kiku set out the next day towards the bay Sadik had mentioned, carrying a bag with a towel and swimming shorts inside in case Herakles wanted him to swim again. He had managed to leave without meeting any members of his family, so he was fairly certain none of them would have any suspicions about his activity. He began travelling towards the bay, first crossing the town at the seafront near to the beach, and then moving eastwards along the cliffs, leaving the buildings behind.

The walk to the bay took over half an hour and involved travelling through rough grassland and over smooth, eroded rocks for several miles until a steep rocky hill came into view. Kiku slid down the hill once he had reached it and set eyes upon the bay for the first time. Ahead of him, azure waters stretched off into the horizon, met by smooth, sandy beach. Aside from the hill, the other two sides of the bay were bordered by sheer, solid cliffs of rock that rose at near ninety degree angles. The whole area looked too beautiful to be so abandoned. It was almost certainly left so untouched because of its remote location.

Not wanting to waste any time, Kiku walked forwards towards the water’s edge, and became aware of Herakles sitting a way away in the surf as he did. He approached the merman, who turned to greet him as he got close.  
“Kiku. You’re finally here.” He commented as the human drew nearer.   
“It took a long time to walk.” Kiku explained.  
“It wasn’t too difficult to swim… Perhaps I should carry you the next time.” Herakles suggested.  
“That’s not really necessary…” Kiku insisted, imagining a scenario where he was seen being taken off into the sea by a merman. The entire town would go crazy.  
“Okay then.” Herakles accepted. “What should we do then?”  
“We could explore this area. I’ve never been here before.” Kiku decided.  
“We could. Are you okay with getting wet? I’m not sure how much of this place is above water.” Herakles warned.  
“I did bring the right clothes for swimming.” Kiku confirmed, getting out the items he had brought from his house. “If you don’t mind waiting for a moment while I change.”   
“It’s fine.” Herakles encouraged, lounging back on the sand as Kiku tried to hurriedly change clothes.

“Your body is very similar to mine down to your waist…” Herakles commented. “And then… You look nothing like me at all.” He turned his head to the side as if trying to study Kiku’s legs. “And what even is…”  
“Don’t watch me!” Kiku spluttered.   
“Why not? You only ever see me naked. And we are mates.” Herakles argued.  
“But it’s… A very intimate thing. I don’t feel ready for that level of intimacy yet.” Kiku pressed.  
“You humans are very strange with your insistence on clothes. And intimate? So your kind considers being naked in another’s presence no differently than the act of mating itself? So strange…” Herakles shook his head. “Still, if that is what you want…” He turned around. “Just tell me when you want to set off.”  
“Alright.” Kiku nodded, continuing to change his clothes until he was in his swimming shorts and ready to head out into the water if need be.

“Okay, let’s get moving now.” He told Herakles, who looked back towards him.  
“Right. We’ll start by investigating the rock walls to see if there are any caves. Then we can swim along the coral and look for anything interesting.” Herakles suggested.  
Kiku nodded, running over the sand towards the rock wall at one end of the beach. Herakles dove into the sea and followed by swimming under the water, surfacing only once he had made it to the rock formation. Once they had both reached the wall, Kiku began running his hands over the rock, exploring the span thoroughly for any openings or weaknesses. Herakles searched underwater for any inlets that could lead to secluded caves. After several minutes they looked to each other.  
“Nothing?” Herakles assumed.   
“Nothing.” Kiku confirmed.  
“We should go to the other side then.” Herakles decided.

Yao walked through the streets of the town, searching for Kiku in every place he could think of. He was certain something was out of the ordinary, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. When visits to both Feliciano and Ludwig came up blank, he became even more suspicious. He was determined to find Kiku and discover what was going on with him. It was far more complicated than him simply having a girlfriend. Yao wasn’t stupid.  
“Hmm…” Mei pondered as she made tea in the kitchen. “You don’t suppose he’s with a boy and is just too embarrassed or afraid to admit it and so they’re meeting in secret?”  
Yao stared at her for a moment before responding. “Why wouldn’t he tell us?”  
“Maybe he thinks you’d be mad at him if he said anything? You are always going on about us getting married and having kids of our own someday…” Mei considered. “Maybe you should try telling him that you’ll accept him no matter what. Make it easy for him to talk to you.”  
“That could work.” Yao admitted. “But if he still says nothing, I’m still going to keep prying.”

“Nothing again?” Herakles pondered after several more minutes of walking and searching.  
“Nothing again.” Kiku repeated. “I suppose that means there really aren’t any caves here.”  
“We’ll have to just swim then.” Herakles commented. “It’s a good thing you brought the clothes for it.”  
“Right.” Kiku agreed, launching himself into the water.  
“Let’s go over to the coral.” Herakles smiled, taking Kiku by the hand and swimming with him into the water. Kiku allowed himself to be pulled along by his boyfriend, liking the feeling of being in the water. The shallow water they had swum into was free of any coral, but the reef extended in a semi-circle around them, joining the two caves in a wide ark through the deeper water. The sun bore down on the pair as they swam out into the deeper water together, and helped to keep Kiku warm despite the coolness of the water around him. Herakles didn’t appear to care for the water, although he did sigh contently at the effects of the sun upon his back. 

“Let’s lounge here a while.” The merman suggested, once they were both out into the deeper water.  
“The sun feels nice. We can always explore more later on.” Kiku agreed.  
“Right.” Herakles nodded, rolling onto his back while still holding onto Kiku’s hand. The human moved to float on his back as Herakles relaxed next to him.  
“I like doing this. And it’s nicer when I’m here with you. It’s been a long time since we went swimming.” Herakles commented.  
“The sun does feel nice. And I suppose I really don’t go swimming enough.” Kiku added.  
“Then stay here a while with me.” The merman insisted. “Just forget about everything else.” He smiled as he closed his eyes and napped where he was. Kiku didn’t feel tired enough to sleep (and it was hard to rest in the water besides), but he found Herakles to be rather cute when he acted like that, and left him to rest peacefully, a smile on the human’s face as he took a little look around the bay they were in.

When Herakles woke up an hour or so later, he found Kiku back in front of him, having swum around the perimeter of the bay.  
“I can’t tell how things are under the water. But the coral doesn’t meet the surface anywhere here. And I can see it underneath the water everywhere around us.” The human commented.  
“We’ll look underwater later Kiku.” Herakles sighed, wrapping his arms around the human.  
“Uh… I can’t swim like this.” The human complained, rolling due to Herakles’s natural buoyancy so that he was under the water. Herakles wondered for a moment while he was on his front until he realised and flipped them back over, pulling Kiku onto his chest and holding him there as he continued to float on his back.  
“Um, I…” Kiku blushed, trying to move from where he was.  
“Just relax.” Herakles soothed, stroking Kiku’s cheek softly.  
“This is… A rather intimate position.” Kiku complained.  
“Not if we don’t do anything. If we just lie here… It’s just nice.” Herakles decided.  
“Hmm…” Kiku considered, trying to get comfortable with his situation.

“It really is tranquil here… I think I can have a good rest while we’re here. At the same time, I think we should finish the exploration today, if we can. So tomorrow we can do other nice things.” Herakles mused.  
“Oh, right.” Kiku realised. “I can’t come tomorrow. I promised my friends I’d go with them to a party. Ludwig’s father’s been elected the mayor.”  
“Really? Well, it can’t be helped. You can’t forget about your friends after all. I’ll do something else tomorrow then. We can meet again the day after.” Herakles smiled. “Hopefully, we can have a nice date that day.”  
Kiku nodded. “That sounds… Very nice.”   
“Should we finish our exploring now then? I want us to have a nice day on our date.” Herakles suggested.   
“There’s no one way to act when you’re dating someone. I don’t mind even if we do spend our time just exploring the area.” Kiku explained. “But it would be good to get the exploring done today. I think I’ve had enough relaxing for one day.”  
“Even if it doesn’t matter what we do… I’d like us to do something you’d find more appealing.” Herakles continued, letting Kiku back into the water and rolling back onto his front.  
“Do you mean romantic? … You don’t have to.” Kiku sighed, blushing.  
“Let me? I want to do this right.” Herakles pressed, kissing Kiku’s hand lovingly.  
“If it makes you happy.” Kiku accepted, blushing.

The sun was already setting in the sky by the time Kiku and Herakles had finished their search. There were a few paths through the coral that led out of the bay and into the wider ocean, they had found, but other than that the only real way into the bay by sea was over the coral, which involved swimming close to the surface.  
“It looks really secure here.” Herakles summed up, sitting back in the surf as Kiku changed back into his regular clothes.  
“I think we should be safe here.” Kiku agreed.  
“Good. So I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.” Herakles smiled. Kiku pulled on his shirt and put his things away before turning to Herakles.  
“That’s right. Take care Herakles.” Kiku expressed.  
“Ah, Kiku…” Herakles added, grabbing the human’s hand as he was about to leave.   
“Hm?” Kiku murmured, turning around.   
Herakles leaned upwards and pressed a short kiss against Kiku’s lips before pulling away and falling back into the water. “Be safe.”  
Kiku stared for a moment, seemingly unable to react to the kiss at first, before his hand moved to touch his lips gently. He blinked at Herakles a couple more times before bowing and turning around.  
“See you soon.” He uttered as he left.  
Herakles stared after the human, finding his every little reaction to be cute.  
When Kiku returned home, Yao was already waiting for him.   
“Kiku, where were you today? I didn’t see you in the town when I went shopping earlier.” He nagged.  
“I wasn’t in the town.” Kiku replied, giving nothing away.   
“Kiku… You know you can always talk to me about anything. I’d never judge you, no matter what.” The older emphasised.  
“I know. And it’s okay. Really.” Kiku reassured.   
Yao nodded despite his suspicions. “Alright. You are coming with us tomorrow, aren’t you?”  
“Of course.” Kiku nodded.  
As the younger brother ran quickly up the stairs, the elder was left feeling even more concerned than he had been before.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ludwig's father's swearing in party and Kiku takes the time to reflect on his growth with others. Herakles pines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, so long since last update.  
> Things got really busy with exams for university, and then getting back into the momentum of writing took forever. Things are getting easier again now, especially since Trials is now finished.
> 
> Feliciano may be an airhead most of the time, but he understands a lot about matters of love, and that's why he's so curious. Also, this chapter might appear filler, but it has some pretty big implications.  
> Alaric is introduced in this chapter. He never really had much reason to turn up before, but he's going to be important later on still. He is meant to be Germania, but he's specifically Ludwig's father in this AU as opposed to grandfather or whatever he was in canonverse.

Kiku tugged awkwardly at the formal shirt he was wearing as he trudged down the stairs to meet up with his siblings. It was hot outside, and he wasn't looking forwards to being so dressed up for the entire day. Not that he would go against tradition simply because of his own discomfort.   
“Kiku, you're ready at last. We need to get going now, so hurry up.” Yao complained, already walking out the door.  
“Ah, don't be so impatient Yao! We have plenty of time still.” Mei argued, still waiting for her brother at the foot of the stairs.  
“Don't worry about it Mei, we're ready to go now anyway.” Kiku assured. As he left the door with his siblings to go and celebrate Ludwig's father's inauguration, his thoughts drifted back to Herakles, and he wondered for a moment how his boyfriend was doing.

“Kiku! I'm so glad you made it! Look, everyone's already gathered and they're all so excited about this!” Feliciano babbled as soon as he caught sight of his friend in the town square the celebration was being held in.  
“It does look like that, doesn't it?” Kiku agreed. “Where is Ludwig at the moment?”  
“Oh, he's with his dad right now.” Feli explained. “He'll be out in a minute though.”  
“Of course.” Kiku nodded. “Anyway, how have you been personally?”  
“I've been great! I went to the market, and I've done a lot of painting, and now I get to see you and Ludwig again!” Feliciano smiled. “Oh yeah! What about you Kiku? Did you sort things out with that guy you liked?”  
“I did.” Kiku answered, looking a little flustered that the conversation was about him suddenly.   
“I'm so happy for you.” Feliciano congratulated.  
“Ah, thank you.” Kiku responded awkwardly.  
“Good morning. The two of you seem well.” Ludwig greeted, walking up to the pair.  
“Hi Ludwig! We're doing great!” Feliciano rambled. “We were just catching up on how we were doing and how happy today is, and also all about Kiku's new...”  
“Feli, that's enough.” Kiku cut in, not wanting his friend to elaborate.  
“Right. Well, that's nice.” Ludwig accepted. “The celebration will start soon. We should get to the front.”   
“Right!” Feliciano concurred. Kiku nodded.

Throughout the ceremony, officials came and went and gave speeches and took care of traditional things that everybody in the crowd listened through with the same dull expression on their faces. Kiku tried his best to remain polite throughout, but Feliciano yawned loudly several times, and Ludwig was glaring daggers at him by the time Alaric took the stand.  
“Yay! It's Ludwig's dad!” Feliciano chirped. Kiku felt a little embarrassed on behalf of his friend, but he had to admit that he was happy for Ludwig and his family. There wasn't a person in town who hadn't wanted Alaric to be the mayor.  
“Thank you neighbours. Fellow townspeople. It is an honour. May we continue to improve ourselves and this town through hard work and community spirit.” The stoical German preached. The people around them applauded.

Alaric was, in his appearance and mannerisms, an older version of Ludwig. Only a few differences kept them apart. Alaric's hair was longer than his son's, and if anything, he valued hard work and perseverance all the more. He even appeared sterner than Ludwig, if that were at all possible. He appeared to be the kind of man who rejected the notion of compromise. To the people of the town, he was a great public figure. Brave. Hard-working. Just. Everything the town needed. And everything Kiku could hope for. Kiku wished more than anything that Alaric of all people could bring an end to the constant violence and cycle of revenge their town was trapped in. 

He hoped it wasn't a wish made in vain.

“Kiku, it is good to see you again.” Alaric began, as he walked up to Kiku at the after-party. “Ludwig has been keeping me informed of your achievements.”  
“It's good to see you too.” Kiku bowed out of respect. “And congratulations. May this town continue to prosper.” He raised the glass of green tea he was holding, trying his best to look like a responsible adult. Alaric laughed; a short curt sound that almost didn't sound like a laugh at all.  
“Is something the matter?” Kiku inquired.  
“Nothing. Just that you are definitely your father's son.” Alaric explained. “You look so much like him. And yet...”  
“Yet?” Kiku pressed, not wanting to be compared to his father. His father had been ruthless. His father had been inflexible. His father had killed.  
“You have your mother's compassion.” The older man decided. “I can see it burning away in those eyes of yours. I pray that you never lose it.” The mayor nodded sternly.  
“Thank you sir.” Kiku replied politely.  
“No need to be so formal Kiku. I hope to see you soon. Be a good friend to Ludwig.” He looked into Kiku's eyes a final time before someone else called him away. Kiku was left staring, wondering what to think.

“Wow Kiku, you look so grown up!” Yao commented, sauntering over.  
“You didn't think so earlier?” Kiku asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“I didn't have time to look. But seeing you all dressed up like this... I guess we're not children anymore, are we? You're not a child anymore.” The older brother sighed. “You've grown so much even in just the last few weeks. It's reflected on your face.”  
“Do you think so?” Kiku wondered aloud, reflecting on the recent weeks of his life and the things he had been through. The values he had come to question. The truths he had realised. The characters he had met. Herakles.  
“I know so.” Yao shook his head. “It's enough to make me feel old.”  
“You're not an old man yet.” Kiku laughed. “Don't try to age us both.”  
“I'll try.” Yao agreed. “I'm not ready to be old just yet.” He turned away from Kiku. “Ludwig was looking for you. Don't keep him waiting, okay?”  
“I'll go find him.” Kiku decided, walking off into the crowd. Yao smiled after him.

“Kiku!” Feliciano waved, sitting on the wall of the fountain while Ludwig stood beside him. “Nice party, huh?”  
“It certainly is... Festive.” Kiku responded, phrasing carefully.  
“That it is.” Ludwig corroborated. “A lot of work went into this after all.”  
“Hmm.” Feliciano frowned. “Does this mean Ludwig's gonna be busy from now on too?”   
“My father's the mayor, not me.” Ludwig corrected. “I'm not going to have much more to do. Perhaps I'll be helping him a little bit. Not much.”  
“Yay! Then we have to think of some more things we can do!” Feliciano grinned, jumping from his spot and hugging Ludwig and Kiku tightly. Both men struggled to escape.  
“But first...” Kiku insisted. “We should enjoy this party. And celebrate all the hard work Ludwig and his father have been doing.”  
“Right!” Feliciano beamed.  
“That sounds good.” Ludwig allowed. 

Herakles had spent most of the day asleep. At first, the nap-time had been something he was grateful for. But as time wound on, he found himself missing Kiku more and more. His dreams became filled with thoughts of his favourite human, and the morning stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. By mid-afternoon he was restless and considering swimming up to the surface just to see whether Kiku was around. By evening he was feeling downright irritable.  
“I wouldn't act so jumpy.” Sadik warned, swimming up and clapping him on the shoulder. “Others'll see. I get it, new relationship and all. But I'd keep it on the down low unless ya want all the other merpeople tryin' to get a look at what yer so fussed about.”  
“I know that.” Herakles growled. “I can't help it. What if something happens?”  
“We're the predators around here.” Sadik pointed out. “I don't see any of our kind attackin' the humans right now. So he's safe up there in the human town.”  
“Right.” Herakles nodded.   
“It's okay to miss yer boyfriend. But try not to let it get to ya.” Sadik smirked a little. “After all, yer'll be back with him first thing tomorrow.”  
“Okay.” Herakles agreed. Sadik smirked at him again before swimming off.

“He's right for once. It won't even feel like longing when you see each other again.” Helene commented, resting on one of the rocks behind her son.  
“Mama!” Herakles exclaimed. How long had she been there? Did she suspect anything?  
“Young love...” She sighed to herself. “It always feels hard to be apart from someone in the beginning. But over time, you learn that the love between you can cross the boundary, even when you can't be together.”  
“Is that really true?” Herakles philosophised. And more importantly, would it still be true if everyone knew who Kiku really was?  
“So long as it's true love.” Helene guided. “And if it isn't, it'll fade anyway.”  
Herakles took to thinking about her words for a long time.

By the time the evening had come, the party was dying down. Groups of people drifted off to continue celebrations in their own homes. Kiku was left with Ludwig and Feliciano, helping with the beginning of the clean-up. The day had been a great success, and Kiku had enjoyed the chance to catch up with friends and family. Nevertheless, as he looked out at the sea visible from the town square, he found that his thoughts were not truly on the town at all, but instead beneath the waves. He wasn't obvious with it, but Feliciano still spotted him staring wistfully towards the water. 

Yao came an hour or so later, advising Kiku to return home before dinner got cold. As the young man made his apologies and prepared to do just that, Feliciano turned to him.  
“Kiku... You know you can tell us anything, right?” He started.  
“Yes.” Kiku replied, no hesitation in his voice.  
“Then... Tell us about the sea. Why do you find it so interesting all of a sudden?” The taller man demanded, his usual smile faltering. He was serious.  
Kiku was silent for several seconds before he spoke. “It's a long story. Perhaps another time.” His silence told Feliciano all he needed to know.  
“Definitely another time.” He pressed. “I'm sure Kiku will tell us when he's ready, right?” He grinned again, not wanting to give off an air of uncertainty.  
“Right.” Kiku agreed, turning around to leave the square.  
Feliciano continued to stare after him, determined to find out the truth.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku faces up to his inhibitions while Herakles remains understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is almost entirely fluff and cute.

Kiku couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he left the house the next morning. There was no way he could just tell Yao or Feliciano the truth, however much they wanted to hear it. The last thing he wanted was to put Herakles in danger of being hunted by his own family, or his family in danger of reprisals from townspeople. And when he stopped to think about it, it wasn't like Yao or Feliciano were the type of people who could easily defend themselves from such an outrage anyway. He sighed to himself. It would just have to remain a secret.

The human idled his way along to the bay he and Herakles had discovered before. Lost in his own thoughts, he ended up taking such a long time that Herakles was already asleep in the shallow water by the time he arrived, tail twitching slightly and making small ripples in the waves. He sat down quietly and watched the fish that darted about nervously as he allowed his boyfriend to sleep.

“Kiku? Is that you?” Herakles asked as he sat up a little while later, rubbing his eyes.  
“Hello Herakles.” Kiku greeted. “Did you sleep well?”  
“Very.” The merman yawned. “I was waiting for you to come here, and I got sleepy...” He stretched as he spoke, lingering a little too long in his most extended position as if he was showing off.  
“Is there anything you want to do?” Kiku asked. Herakles crawled onto the beach, wrapping his arms around Kiku as he fell onto the sand. Kiku fell with him, landing to the side of his boyfriend.  
“Stay with me. Like this.” Herakles requested.  
“But, the water...” Kiku looked down to the edge of Herakles's tail. It was barely even touching the sea.  
“I can bare it. Just for a while.” Herakles insisted, leaning upwards to kiss Kiku gently on the lips before pressing kisses over the rest of his face and down onto his neck.  
“Why...?” Kiku gasped a little, unused to being kissed in such a way.  
“You mean so much. I want you to know.” Herakles answered.  
“Of course I know that.” Kiku shook his head. “Don't strain yourself for me.”  
“I know.” Herakles pulled Kiku closer to himself. “Just let me nap here with you. I'll go hunting when I start to dry out.”  
“Alright.” Kiku accepted. “What do you plan to do with the fish?”  
“You could cook them.” Herakles suggested. “You humans go and eat when you're on dates, don't you?”   
“Okay.” Kiku nodded, closing his eyes and letting himself relax despite their position as Herakles cuddled him peacefully. After all, he was wearing clothes, so the contact between them was not especially intimate, and Herakles was mostly asleep, and also very soft, and the sun was shining down on them...

Kiku awoke over an hour later to find Herakles had indeed disappeared. He hadn't even realised he'd fallen asleep. Remembering his boyfriend's words, the human climbed stiffly to his feet and began looking for firewood to use when cooking the fish Herakles was sure to catch. It would bide the time for him until the merman returned. As he worked, Kiku began to wonder whether things could stay the way they were forever. Eventually, he reasoned, someone was bound to find out about them, and they'd probably be separated. Even if they weren't, it wasn't like they could easily live together, with Herakles needing water and Kiku drowning in it. It left the human determined to use the time they did have together as well as he could. But even this didn't make his own inhibitions disappear.

Kiku absorbed himself in working on the fire to forget his troubles, and had a roaring blaze going by the time Herakles returned to the beach, two decent sized fish in hand.  
“Are these edible?” He checked, swimming into the shore and crawling up to Kiku. “I tried the best I could...”  
“They're fine.” Kiku assured. “We can cook them now if you like.”  
“I'd like that.” Herakles smiled. “I like watching you cook. It's interesting. And the fire is nice to watch.”  
“Alright.” Kiku agreed, taking the fish from Herakles as the merman settled in one place and began to watch the fire. “It shouldn't take too long.”

“How many dates will we go on Kiku?” Herakles asked as he watched the fish cooking.  
“I said before. We can date for forever if you want.” Kiku reassured his boyfriend.  
“Good. I want to be with Kiku as much as I can.” Herakles replied, cuddling into Kiku's side. The human breathed in sharply, still somehow not used to the contact.  
“Although... I am wondering how many it will take... To get more of a response out of you.” Herakles mused.  
“I'm sorry.” Kiku looked down at the sand, feeling awkward.  
“No need.” Herakles insisted. “The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable. I can wait as long as you want me to. I'm just curious.”  
“I feel inadequate.” Kiku admitted.  
“Don't. Being around you is enough for me.” Herakles smiled, kissing Kiku on the top of his head. The human blushed and looked over to the fire.  
“Well... The fish is done.”

“Hmm...” Herakles thought as Kiku took the fish from the fire. “Would you mind feeding me?”  
“Can't you eat?” Kiku asked, a little surprised at the request..  
“Of course. But I thought it would be nice. Don't people do this kind of thing on dates?” Herakles argued.  
“If it's what you want.” Kiku relented, picking up one of the pieces of fish. “Okay then.” He held it out for Herakles.  
“Mm...” Herakles hummed in thanks, wrapping his lips around the food offered to him (how he didn't flinch at the heat, Kiku would never know). As he took a bite out of the fish, he deliberately licked along Kiku's knuckles, lingering over his skin. The human couldn't help but laugh- it was just so strange, and of course Herakles was permanently wet all over.   
“I think I like the things humans do to fish. They make it so new and interesting.” Herakles decided, pulling Kiku into his lap. The human was instantly red again.   
“I suppose... For us it is nothing exciting.” Kiku countered, continuing to feed the merman regardless of his own embarrassment. Herakles swallowed the rest of the fish in one go.  
“Hmm... Let me feed Kiku?” Herakles requested.  
“I'm alright, really.” Kiku tried to convince Herakles. He really wasn't ready for that.   
“Some day soon then?” Herakles asked. “I want Kiku to feel comfortable around me.”  
“Soon.” Kiku promised, looking back to the fire.

“Is there anything you do want to do?” Herakles checked, once the fish and the fire had been taken care of. “How much are you okay with?”  
“I'm not sure.” Kiku admitted. “I am not good with most intimate activities.”  
“Just kiss me then?” Herakles asked. “I want to be close to you.”  
“Okay.” Kiku nodded. Herakles smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Kiku wanted to respond, wanted to show Herakles that he did want to be with him, but he didn't know how to go about it without instantly making things more intimate than he was safe with. He sat back and let Herakles lead him, felt the merman's hands wrap around his arms and allowed his tongue to press against Kiku's lips.  
Then he started coughing from the salt.

“We need to find a way to stop that happening.” Herakles declared, watching Kiku spluttering on the sand.  
“I'll get used to it.” Kiku answered, sitting up.  
“But do you like kissing me?” Herakles inquired.  
“I wouldn't kiss you if I didn't.” Kiku replied.  
“Good. I love Kiku.” Herakles smiled. “I want to make you happy.”   
“Isn't it a little early to be talking about love?” Kiku pressed, blushing again.  
“Oh? I'm not sure. In my kind, it's when you want to stay with someone for a long time, probably settle down with them...” Herakles detailed.  
“We've been dating for five days.” Kiku pointed out.  
“Ah, too soon for you?” Herakles guessed. “It's okay. I won't expect you to say it back just yet.”   
“I...” Kiku swallowed. “Okay.”  
“You make me happy. I can wait for however long you need to.” Herakles continued, kissing the top of Kiku's forehead. The human smiled. He felt happy with Herakles too.

“I'm sorry we weren't able to do more today.” Kiku fretted.  
“It doesn't matter. I got to spend more time with you.” Herakles insisted.  
“I still feel bad. I can't reciprocate your affection...” Kiku looked down at the sand.  
“I can wait. I would never want to force you to into anything you were uncomfortable with.” Herakles reassured, pulling Kiku into a loose, comfortable hug. “I want to do this right. Right for you as well as myself.”  
“Alright.” Kiku smiled, embracing Herakles in return before standing up. “I have to leave. It will get dark soon.”  
“Are you able to come tomorrow?” Herakles checked.  
“Of course.” Kiku agreed.  
“Then I'll see you tomorrow.” Herakles smiled.   
“See you tomorrow.” Kiku copied, beginning to walk back away from the beach.  
Herakles watched him until he was sure he was gone.

Kiku laid awake in the darkness of his room with a heavy heart. However much Herakles tried to make him feel better, he still felt like a bad boyfriend for being so nervous about physical contact. He tried to rationale his own feelings and come up with a solution, but nothing immediate came to him. Frustrated, the human rose to his feet and moved over to the window, staring out into the darkness. He would've told Yao about it. Or Feliciano. This was exactly the kind of thing you were meant to speak to your older brother or best friend about. But Kiku couldn't tell them. It would put them in too much danger. He instead resolved to attempt to overcome his problems by himself. He'd just have to find a way to ease himself into his relationship until he was used to his interactions with Herakles. After all, he didn't want Herakles to feel like he had to moderate his behaviour around him just for his sake. And he couldn't get any help with how he was feeling.

So what else could Kiku do?


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yao becomes increasingly suspicious, Kiku becomes increasingly comfortable with affection, and the merpeople become increasingly angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated this. Midterms bogged me down a whole lot.  
> This is the last of the "fluff" chapters- the story gets a lot more serious from here on out.  
> There's a time skip of a few days from the end of last chapter, but that's mostly so the plot gets moving quicker.

“Kiku. Look at me.”  
Kiku stopped just before reaching the door and stared up at Yao's disapproving face and crossed arms. This looked bad.  
“Where have you been going? You're never anywhere in town or on the beach. I know. I asked around. Not even your friends know where you are.” The older brother frowned.  
“I've been walking outside of town.” Kiku answered vaguely. He didn't want to lead Yao to where he met Herakles. His brother would only follow. And then get mad.  
“Outside of town? By yourself?” Yao only seemed to get more disapproving. “What business could you possibly have there?”  
“It's more like a hobby. Just going and taking in the scenery...” The younger brother lied.  
“I'm not an idiot Kiku.” Yao pointed out. “I know something's going on. I just wish you would tell me what.”  
“...I'm sorry.” Kiku looked down at the floor ashamedly. He couldn't talk to Yao. It just wasn't possible.  
“Kiku... Please. I'm worried.” Yao sighed dejectedly.  
“I'm sorry.” Kiku repeated, pushing past his brother to the door.  
“Goddamnit Kiku.” Yao swore after him. “Don't make me...”

The last week, Kiku and Herakles had definitely become closer. The same embraces and passionate kisses that had left the smaller man so embarrassed before were now simple expressions of affection that he relished in. Kiku felt better now that he had had some time to get used to the new situation in which he found himself. He still felt apprehensive about anything further that might happen between him and his boyfriend, but was convinced it was nothing he couldn't handle. Aside from that though, there was still the problem of Yao. Feliciano too. The two of them were asking too many questions, and getting too close, and even though Kiku had tried to throw them off by spending a few days with his friends instead of with Herakles, they were still asking very difficult questions. Kiku wasn't sure how long he could protect them- whether he could really keep them from the truth.

“You've been staring into space for a while you know.” Herakles commented, pulling Kiku out of his thoughts.  
“Oh. Sorry.” Kiku tried to shake his torment from his mind.  
“Is everything alright?” The merman checked, nuzzling Kiku absent-mindedly.  
“It's fine.” Kiku assured him.  
“It's not anything I'm doing is it? Am I making you uncomfortable?” Herakles fretted.  
“No. It's fine, really.” Kiku awkwardly rubbed his boyfriend's shoulder. “It is to do with other things.”  
“What happened?” Herakles inquired.  
“I am just worried.” Kiku admitted. “I don't think I can hide the truth from my family much longer.”  
“I see...” Herakles nodded. “Is there anything different we could be doing?”  
“I don't think so.” Kiku argued. “I think if it happens it will just... Happen.”  
“What will happen if they find out? How are they likely to take it?” Herakles considered.  
“Yao... Will probably forbid me from leaving the house. He will be mad. Feliciano... He'd tell everyone.” Kiku sighed. “And then the whole town would probably come for us.”  
“I won't let anything happen.” Herakles replied, face serious. “Even if I would have to leave my home. Even if we had to run far away. I'd do it.”  
“Herakles...” Kiku stared seriously at the merman. “You don't have to do that.”  
“But I will. If it comes to it. Which I hope it doesn't.” Herakles replied. “Anyway, how about we just lie here and forget all about it?” He pulled Kiku forwards by the wrist until he was splayed over the top of him, pressed his face into the human's neck and breathed. Kiku wanted to protest that their problems were serious and couldn't be just forgotten, but having his boyfriend close to him like that made him feel better about the situation, and he decided to let it rest.

“What's important to me is just being able to hold you like this.” Herakles sighed, cuddling Kiku contentedly.  
“Ah, well...” Kiku smiled a little, blushing still at his boyfriend's words.  
“I just wanted you to hear that. You don't have to do anything.” The merman assured. “Although, if you want... You could kiss me.”  
Kiku nodded, leaning forwards to press his lips against Herakles's. His boyfriend kissed him gently and affectionately at first, with simple movements that made Kiku feel supported and loved. Herakles's hands spread out over Kiku's back after a while and he deepened the kiss, holding Kiku closer to his body as he ran his tongue over the human's teeth. Kiku shivered, but felt unable to respond, mostly due to the sharp pointy nature of his boyfriend's own teeth. Herakles noticed his discomfort and pulled back for a moment.  
“Are you okay?” He checked.  
“Of course.” Kiku nodded.  
“You just seem as though you're holding back.” Herakles continued.  
“I just don't want to get hurt by accident.” Kiku admitted. Herakles looked confused for a moment before he ran his tongue across his teeth and realisation hit his face.

“Oh. I'm sorry.” The merman laughed nervously. “I never realised how much damage these could do...”  
“It's okay.” Kiku looked down at the sand. “If you want... We could kiss... Somewhere other than the mouth.” He suggested, blushing.  
“Hmm, you mean like this?” Herakles guessed, pressing gentle kisses along Kiku's neck that gradually got firmer as he travelled up to his boyfriend's face.  
“Mm...” Kiku hummed in appreciation, stroking Herakles's hair as he continued to lean over him.  
“This is nice too.” Herakles decided, kissing and licking along the human's jawline and even sucking a little up near the top of his cheekbone. Kiku flinched a little at the action.  
“Not too rough... Please don't bite.” He complained.  
“But why would I bite you? I hate the taste of human.” Herakles frowned.  
“Right.” Kiku breathed in slowly. “No teeth.”  
“Of course not.” Herakles shook his head. “It's just a kiss Kiku.”  
“Sorry.” Kiku sighed to himself.  
“No need to apologise.” Herakles insisted. “I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. I forget sometimes that my kind normally tries to kill yours.” He kissed his boyfriend's forehead gently. “Still... Is it something you enjoyed?”  
“It was quite pleasant.” Kiku agreed.  
“Good.” Herakles nodded. “As long as you're happy.”

“If things are getting so fraught at your house... Do you want to spend some time trying to talk to them about it? I don't mind waiting a few days...” Herakles put forward, cuddling Kiku into his side.  
“I think doing something like that would only make people more suspicious.” Kiku argued. “For now, carrying on as we are could be all we're able to do.”  
“Right.” Herakles mused. “If only there were some way for me to disguise myself as human.”  
“Huh?” Kiku looked up at his boyfriend questioningly. “Where did that idea come from?”  
“Wouldn't it be good?” The merman developed. “To come ashore for a longer length of time... Perhaps gain legs for a while... We could be together without anyone suspecting a thing. And I could see all the nice things on the land you talk about...”  
“I'm not sure it could be that simple, even if it were possible.” Kiku pointed out.  
“True, true... But we can always hope.” Herakles decided.  
“Hope...” Kiku repeated.  
“Yes, hope. Hope will always be there Kiku.” Herakles spoke deeply.  
“How do you come up with these things?” Kiku wondered to himself.  
“Hmm... Do I sound weird? Aren't I right?” Herakles turned his head to the side.  
Kiku looked up at him and found himself smiling. He wouldn't have his boyfriend any other way.

“Be safe on your way home.” Herakles worried as Kiku got ready to leave that evening. “Do you want me to swim along the coastline and keep an eye out for things?”  
“I should be alright, but thanks.” Kiku rejected the offer. “You should be getting back to your family as well.”  
“If you're sure. I'll be here again tomorrow.” The merman accepted, rolling back into the deeper water.  
“See you tomorrow.” Kiku smiled, waving at Herakles before beginning to make his way back home. The merman hung back until he was sure the human was gone, and then began his journey back to the pod with a heavy heart. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more he could be doing to help Kiku. He felt worried now that the others on the land were getting suspicious. And he was afraid of what could happen in the future, knowing his kind's intentions...

“Herakles! Where have you been all day? We're about to go over the plans for tomorrow, and mama was getting worried.” Loukas expressed, swimming towards his brother as he returned to the pod that evening.  
“I was napping.” Herakles lied. “What's going on?”  
“There'll be another raid on the beach tomorrow.” Loukas filled in. “We should be at the briefing. Come on, let's go.”  
“Right.” Herakles nodded, hiding the pain in his heart as he followed his brother over to the rest of the pod, who had gathered around Helene as she prepared to detail the plan for the next day.

“Earlier in the day... The humans attacked the fringes of our coral. A member of our own kind was murdered.” She began, filling Herakles with guilt. He had overlooked the aggression of the other humans in Kiku's village. They weren't safe from either of their kinds.  
“Of course, we cannot let this outrage go unpunished.” The matriarch hissed. “We shall retaliate in kind.”  
Murmurs of agreement passed around the gathered merpeople.  
“Tomorrow, we'll launch a major assault on the beach those humans use. Any of the humans out fishing or playing in the water will be fair game.” Helene described. “But we'll go further than before. Don't be afraid to chase the humans as far as is safe. Don't stray above the high tide line, but crawl on the land if you need to.”  
“Seriously?” Loukas asked. “Isn't that dangerous?”  
“Heh, it's nothing much. Just play your part.” One of the older mermen scoffed. “Same goes for that lazy brother of yours.”  
“Herakles is fine as he is. Someone always needs to hang back.” Helene defended.  
“You can't protect him forever!” One of the mermaids complained.  
Herakles sighed. This was giving him a headache. And he had a bad feeling about this...

Pochi sat on Kiku's stomach as he tried to sleep that night and nuzzled his owner happily. Kiku stroked his pet on the head slowly and thought to himself as he waited to fall asleep.  
“I wonder what I should do...” The human mused to himself.  
Pochi turned his head to the side and lolled his tongue out goofily. Kiku sighed a little, and his dog trotted up to his face and licked him in an attempt to cheer him up.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Kiku fish while merpeople attack the town. This leads to quite a misunderstanding as Feliciano freaks out entirely, and the consequences are worse than Kiku anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel slightly bad for sending the characters on such an emotional roller coaster this chapter. But really given the circumstances it wasn't like anything different would happen.

Herakles found himself unable to contain his nerves as he waited for Kiku as usual the next day. He knew it was a terrible idea to even think of warning the humans of the impending attack, but it didn’t shake his guilt. Despite the fact that most humans were not like Kiku and indeed despised people, were they not worthy of living? And worse, what if innocent people with no hatred in their hearts were killed because of this assault? Herakles was finding it increasingly hard to justify it to himself. And all the time he got more worried and nervous…

“Is there something wrong?” Kiku asked, walking up to where Herakles was musing to himself on the beach.  
“Kiku. It’s just that…” Herakles closed his eyes. “The beach in the town is being attacked again today.”  
“Really?” Kiku jumped back, rather shocked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”  
“I didn’t know.” Herakles replied. Technically, he wasn’t lying. “Is anyone you know on the beach?” He tried to sympathise as much as he could.  
“I don’t think so…” Kiku determined, easing himself down onto the sand.  
“That’s good.” Herakles nodded. “I am sorry about all this. I don’t want this to be happening.”  
“It’s not your fault.” Kiku argued. “And I suppose you could get in trouble for trying to warn people. It is best that we try to stay out of it all as much as we can.”  
“That sounds good.” Herakles agreed. “So, is there anything you want to do today?”  
“I was wondering if you would like to fish with me.” Kiku suggested, bringing a fishing rod out of his bag.  
“It would be nice to watch you catching the fish.” Herakles decided.

Herakles watched in fascination as Kiku attached a hook to the string of the fishing rod, and then attached food to the string, and let it sink into the water attached to weights.  
“It takes a lot of effort for you.” The merman considered.   
“We lure the fish in with our bait.” Kiku explained. “And they become trapped on the hooks.”  
“I was aware.” Herakles grimaced, remembering the times merpeople had been injured on hooks. “We can become tangled in the wires of fishermen sometimes. It is always wise for my kind to steer clear of fishing humans.”  
“I see.” Kiku nodded. “I do not wish to cause harm unnecessarily.”  
“It’s okay while I’m not in the water like this.” Herakles explained. “And I doubt other merpeople will appear here.”  
“True.” Kiku relented, turning to the water and staring at the lure he had set up. “Well, now we wait.”  
“Right.” Herakles leaned over the water, staring at the lure. He hoped Kiku would catch something.

Feliciano leaned back against the sand at the top end of the beach. The sun shined down with a great force and made him feel sleepy. He was about to roll over to nap for a while when a scream became audible to his ears. He sat up sharply and stared down the beach as people ran in all directions. A couple of the village boys, filled with bravado, ran towards the shoreline with rocks and began throwing them into the water. Seconds later, a mermaid leapt out of the water and grabbed one of them around the waist, falling forwards and onto the beach. The boys still appeared unfazed; they clearly didn’t expect the mermaid to be able to do anything now that she was essentially beached. She was resolute in her attack, and clawed the caught human across the face before beginning to roll back and towards the sea, dragging the male along with her. He tried to reach for his friend, crying out for help, but even a pelting of rocks from the other human did nothing to prevent him being pulled into the water as he tried to kick his assailant, struggling to escape. 

As the boy was dragged under the water, more merpeople appeared and began reaching out for humans that remained too close to the water’s edge, even leaping onto the beaches and leaving the water entirely in an attempt to catch more people. The friend of the first boy barely escaped as his leg was clawed as he escaped up the beach. Some of the more daring merpeople crawled a fair distance up the beach, pursuing the humans that tried to run away. Feliciano sat petrified in horror for a few seconds before turning and running away as fast as he could, screaming for help as he fled. Other people heard the cries coming from the beach and walked over to investigate, conferring with themselves about the best course of action. Feliciano managed to run straight into Ludwig as he was escaping, and began babbling incoherently at his friend.  
“There’s the people and they keep being dragged in and I think they’re dead what do we do?” He asked, completely freaking out.  
“Feliciano, calm down!” Ludwig insisted, shaking the shorter man a little.   
“Why is this happening to us?” Feliciano questioned, still tense.  
“We have been attacking the merpeople as well.” Ludwig discussed. “I fear it may be nothing short of revenge.”  
“It doesn’t matter.” Alaric sighed, walking up to his son. “The town must be protected. Something will have to be done.”  
“Are you going to kill the merpeople?” Feliciano questioned.  
“I don’t wish to take such action, but we may be left with no choice.” Alaric replied. “We need to reconsider our strategy. Sooner or later, we may be left with exterminating their habitat as our only option.”

Feliciano gripped onto Ludwig’s arm for support as Alaric continued walking down towards the beach, seeking to survey the damage.  
“Ludwig. Why can’t there be peace?” He whimpered.  
“I fear it’s already gone too far.” The taller man responded.

“We’ve caught so many fish now.” Herakles marvelled as he sat with Kiku and stared down at their haul.   
“We have too many to eat now… Do you want to take some back with you? You could share them with your family.” Kiku offered.  
“That would be nice. As long as some are left for you of course.” Herakles decided.   
As Kiku and Herakles both began packing fish away into their bags, the merman came to a realisation.  
“I should probably go… If I’m missing the whole duration of the attack, the others could be suspicious.” He stated. “However, I think you should wait here a while before heading back. It could still be dangerous close to the town for a few more hours.”  
“Alright. Please stay safe.” Kiku accepted.  
“You too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Herakles leaned in to kiss Kiku softly before turning back towards the sea and diving into the water.  
Kiku stared at the ripples left behind in the sea and the reflection of the sun on the water. He waited until after the light had gone.

“Hey, brat, where tha hell’ve ya been all day? There’s all kinds of talk goin’ around, and it won’t be long at this rate until they find out all about that pretty boy of yers!” Sadik chided, swimming up to Herakles the minute he spotted him.  
“Really? I was hoping it would take longer than that…” Herakles sighed. He should have been expecting this, but it was still annoying.  
“Yeah. Well, I mean it might take ‘em longer now, seein’ as how I said ya’d been with me fer most of it…” Sadik admitted.  
“Really? Why did you say that?” Herakles inquired. “Not that I’m not grateful.”  
“Well, it’s like I always say. Without ya, I’ve not no rival, right?” Sadik shrugged it off. “Now, we’d better head back before anyone gets any more thoughts in their heads, okay?”  
“Okay. Thanks.” Herakles agreed, beginning to swim back to where the rest of the pod was due to meet.

“Kiku… Seriously?! What the hell were you doing, where the hell did you go?” Yao exclaimed, as soon as Kiku entered the house that night.  
“I was fishing a ways away.” Kiku explained, not getting why Yao was so panicked. “I’m sorry if I’m a bit late. But I caught all these fish.” He motioned to his bag.  
“Never mind that! The town came under attack again today! We were all becoming convinced you had been lost to the sea! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused everyone?” Yao fumed. Kiku stopped in his tracks. Oh. Of course. He hadn’t considered how worried everyone would be at his continued absence. He’d assumed to himself that the news of the attack wouldn’t travel so fast.  
“Come with me right now! We’re going to Feliciano’s house and you’re going to apologise for worrying him! Poor boy’s been in tears ever since he realised you were missing!” Yao continued, still shouting and dragging Kiku from the house by the hand. 

Feliciano was staring into the fountain in the square, throwing coins in and appearing to pray for the safety of everyone he knew. When he heard footsteps he turned, saw Kiku standing there, and hugged him with enough force to make them both fall over.  
“Kiku came back!” He cried. “Kiku didn’t die!”  
“I… I’m sorry for worrying you.” Kiku answered, not even trying to push his friend away. Feliciano looked like he needed a hug.   
“Kiku, what’s been going on? You need to tell us these things, please!” He pleaded.  
“I…” Kiku tried to come up with a lie, but nothing worked. He sighed. “I’m sorry.”  
“Not good enough.” Yao scolded, folding his arms over his chest. “So help me Kiku, we are going to get to the bottom of this. Until you tell us what’s been happening… You’re grounded. No leaving the house. No going anywhere.”   
“Yao!” Kiku did push Feliciano aside this time, leaping to his feet. “I’m not a child!”  
“Then don’t act like one.” His older brother retorted. “Please Kiku. Don’t do this to us.”  
Kiku looked down at the ground in frustration. There was nothing he could do about the situation.

When he returned home for the second time, all of Kiku’s siblings were waiting. Mei was sobbing loudly, Yong Soo was completely restless and even Hue and Li seemed tenser than they usually were. He tried to apologise for worrying them all, but in the wake of all that had happened it suddenly didn’t seem good enough. Kiku felt guilty for keeping the truth from them all, especially as it had led them to think he’d been killed.

But it didn’t give Yao the right to keep him locked up! Kiku sighed as he paced his room. Yao would probably be guarding the door at all times until he came up with something to tell him. But there were no lies he could think of that would explain everything that his family knew had happened. And Yao had taken his key away, so even if he did fall asleep by the door, there was no way for Kiku to escape. He sighed and walked over to the window, trying to come up with another way of getting to see Herakles- after all, if he went missing suddenly Herakles would probably assume he was dead. But at the same time, he couldn’t tell Yao the truth, since there was no way of knowing how he would react and a negative reaction was likely. Kiku tried to think of a third option as he leaned on the windowsill. As he looked over the town, he considered his proximity to the beach. There were houses between Kiku and the sea, but he was certainly closer to the beach than most of the town. And if only Feliciano and Yao knew about him being grounded… Nobody else would think to look for him, especially if he crept along the beach from the earliest opportunity. If that was the case, he could sneak out, but in order to do that he would need another exit point…

The basement of their house contained old ropes that had once belonged to their father. As Kiku grabbed one of the less worn pieces and dragged it back to his room, testing how far he could throw it and smiling as he noticed its reach led all the way to the floor, he sealed his own fate.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku makes his decision and learns he always has allies he can rely on. The risks on all sides become that much greater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short perhaps, but from here on out at least a couple of the chapters could get pretty long (and considering up to this point things have been pretty even...)
> 
> This is also where all the plot starts happening, as seen a little by the events at the end.

Dawn was rising over the town as Kiku set his plan into action. He slid his bedroom window open slowly, constantly looking around to check nobody suspected a thing. He gazed down at the ground below and the area around, making sure there were no witnesses. He then threw the rope from the window and tied the other end to the edge of his bed before leaning out over the threshold of the window. The rope reached all the way down and touched the floor. Kiku gripped it as tight as he could, leaned over, and slipped silently from the window, sliding down to the ground as gently as he could manage. He ended up with slight rope burn (that would be difficult to explain, to Herakles as much as Yao), but was otherwise uninjured. He curled up as much rope as he could manage and threw it back at the open window, hoping to hide the evidence. Although it didn’t all make it back in, the amount still hanging out the window was reduced to a small enough amount that the teenager doubted anyone would notice. He smiled in success as he left the scene.

The town as deserted considering the early hour, but Kiku still chose to creep down to the beach and along the water front, grateful that there were no merpeople about considering the events of the day before. All in all, nobody noticed Kiku as he made his way from the town. But inside the house, there was a single soul who bothered to enter his room that day and discovered the truth, while the rest of his family assumed he had taken to sulking.

It was still surprisingly early when Kiku made it to the beach where he usually met Herakles. As he took a seat on the damp sand of the morning and waited for the merman to appear, the first feelings of regret made their way firmly into Kiku’s heart. He had disobeyed his brother. Of course he had disagreed with Yao’s decision, but he had made it for legitimate reasons, and Kiku felt bad for just throwing his feelings back in his face without even trying to compromise. Yet in a way, desperate times led to desperate measures. 

“You seem really lost in thought. Did something happen yesterday?” Herakles asked, swimming up to Kiku. “And you’re here early…” The merman’s eyes widened. “Did you know anyone killed yesterday? Were they your friends?”  
“No. Nothing like that.” Kiku was quick to reassure his boyfriend. “You don’t need to worry, really. It’s just…” He looked down at the sand. “I had been gone all day. People were worried that I had been killed. I scared everyone, and they’re very angry right now.”  
“Oh. That’s understandable. But if they’re that afraid… Why don’t you stay home?” Herakles considered.  
“I am meant to be at home. Yao forbid me from leaving the house. But I didn’t want to disappear on you. I thought you would worry as well.” Kiku tried to explain.  
“Oh. Will they notice you missing? I don’t want to cause a rift with your family…” Herakles bit his lip.  
“It’s okay. They probably think I’m sitting in my room still. They may not even be awake.” Kiku assured him.

“Alright.” Herakles nodded, moving up the beach to sit beside Kiku. “If that’s what’s okay with you, I’ll accept it.” He leaned over. “After all, you are right… I was worried about you too. I had been hoping no stragglers were hanging around the beach that could have noticed you.”  
“I didn’t go near to the beach yesterday.” Kiku shrugged.  
“No. But Sadik told me that others in the pod are getting suspicious of what I’ve been doing all day recently. I don’t want there to be any clues that could connect you and me.” Herakles argued. “It’s just about being safe.”  
“I can’t think of anything. There’s nothing in particular that would lead me back to you.” Kiku confirmed.  
“That’s alright then.” Herakles smiled, wrapping an arm around Kiku and dragging them down onto the sand. “The last few days have been stressful. Let’s nap for now.”  
“Sure.” Kiku agreed, leaning into Herakles’s hold and closing his eyes. After everything, it was comforting to be with someone who wanted nothing more than to protect you while respecting your decisions…

When Kiku woke up, Herakles was holding him tightly against his body, breathing against the back of the human’s neck as he slept on. When Kiku tried to move, Herakles leaned down to kiss the same area, a smile forming on his face.  
“Kiku…” He murmured. “I love you…” He continued kissing further along the human’s neck, still appearing to be asleep for the most part.  
“Are you awake Herakles?” Kiku checked.  
“I wonder… How humans mate?” Herakles philosophised, still seemingly in his sleep. “I would like to try it. If it was Kiku…”  
Kiku nearly chocked on the air he was breathing. Where had that thought come from?! He sighed. In many ways it wasn’t actually that unexpected. Herakles had been dating him for a few weeks after all, and his intentions had been clear from the start. But Kiku still felt uneasy about the whole thing. He wasn’t even sure how something like that could work, regardless of any other consideration. Still, Kiku felt as though he would have to talk to Herakles about it. It had, in all likelihood, been long enough.  
“I wonder if there could be peace. If I could live with Kiku somewhere. If it were possible... We could keep many cats. The cats seem really cute. I would like to own some cats.” Herakles carried on. Kiku reached up to stroke his hair and smiled at his boyfriend. “Cats… Of course.”

“There’s something you should know.” Herakles remembered as he was waking up later that day. “Tomorrow… They’re attacking the beach again tomorrow. Maybe you should stay home.”  
Kiku thought about it. About how happy it would make Yao and the others to be able to see that he was safe. About the people he knew in the town, and how easy it would be to save them if he spoke up.   
“What would you do?” He asked Herakles.  
“I… Would still be here. I cannot go out there and fight humans. Not anymore.” Herakles decided, already resolute in his choice.  
“Then I’ll come here too. I don’t want to leave you alone.” Kiku seconded. Once he knew Herakles’s decision, there was no chance of him following a different path.   
“If that’s the case… Please be as early as you can. I want to be sure you’re safe.” Herakles decided. “And be careful.”  
“Naturally.” Kiku nodded.

Herakles had clung to him for most of the rest of the day, peppering him with kisses, and Kiku reasoned that he felt apprehensive and didn’t truly want him to leave. But Kiku ended up needing to go home earlier than Herakles would probably have liked. He couldn’t let anyone in the town grow suspicious of him. As he left, Kiku noticed Herakles remained sitting on the beach. He promised himself he’d be back as soon as he could.

The town was buzzing with people when Kiku returned, but the beach was worse, so he kept a low profile and crept along back to his house. When he reached the window, he realised that there was a deep flaw in his plan. There was no way to get the rope back down for him to climb back into the house. And he couldn’t exactly go and knock on the door…

While Kiku thought his problems over, the sound of the front door opening came to his ears. Panicking, Kiku dove into the nearest bush and tried to hide.  
“…You know, you can come out Kiku. I know you’re in there.” Mei confessed, folding her arms over her chest.  
“How did you…?” Kiku began.  
“I saw you missing this morning. It wasn’t the best of plans for sneaking out anyway.” His sister laughed to herself.   
Kiku stood up slowly. “Am I in trouble…?”  
“Of course not. Like I’d tell Yao what you’d done. Far as anyone else knows, you’re still in your room sulking away. Because I trust you. And I believe you have to have a good reason for what you’re doing.” Mei shrugged.  
“…Thanks.” Kiku sent a grateful smile in her direction.  
“It’s no problem. What are sisters for anyway? Although… You could tell me about it sometime. Do you really have a secret lover nobody knows anything about?” She pried, leaning in. “I promise not to tell!”  
“Maybe another time.” Kiku tried to worm his way out of it.  
“You know that means yes.” Mei snorted. “Let’s go. I can get you inside before Yao comes back from the market.”  
Kiku followed her in, praising whatever fate had caused things to turn out so well.

“You know, something’s definitely up with that mama’s boy.” One of the mermaids in the pod whispered to her friend.  
“Ooh, yeah. Someone even told me he was going to hang out with humans all day.” Another joined in.  
“Maybe he has a fetish or something?” A third giggled.   
“Eww. That’s so weird. Anyway, it’s getting in the way of all our plans. Does he not realise how selfish he’s being?” The first mermaid folded her arms.   
“We should totally find out what he’s doing. Maybe we should follow him!” Her friend agreed.  
“Not now. We don’t want to miss the crusade tomorrow after all. But if he doesn’t turn up after that, we’ll definitely keep tabs on him until we find out the truth.” The first decided. “Tell the others. We’ll observe that brat until all his secrets are ours.”

“Herakles? Are you back already?” Helene called out for her son, swimming around the coral.  
“What is it mama?” Herakles asked, sitting up from where he had been sleeping.  
“It’s nothing much. But tomorrow, I’m heading out on an extended hunting trip after the attack on the human town. I’ll be gone for several days. If you’re not back from your own duties by the time I leave… Don’t worry.” She smiled at him, fussing over his hair a little.  
“Okay mama.” Herakles nodded. “What are you going to do?”  
“I’m chasing a pod of whales as they migrate close to the waters around here. I’ll obviously have to go into the deep sea, which is why it’s such an extended trip. But when I return, I should have resources enough to keep the pod flowing for months. I’ll take a few merpeople with me, but of course we can’t spare too many.” She described.  
“That sounds good mama. I hope you succeed.” Herakles smiled. “And be careful.” As he spoke, he instantly thought about Kiku, and made sure not to let it show.

Nobody could ever know about that.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Kiku assess their situation, while Sadik tries to warn them about a less than savoury impending future...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long since I updated this! (Like, two months or even more)  
> I got struck with writer's block for a few weeks and then exams started at my uni... And went on for a whole month. I'd hoped to be able to get writing done at the same time, but ended up just having no free time.
> 
> Anyway, i'm back now, and I have an extra long chapter out finally! There's a load of stuff that happens this chapter, and it ends on kinda a cliffhanger. The next few chapters should be busy as well. There should be five or six chapters remaining after this one.

Kiku left as early as he could the next morning.

Mei managed to herd him out of the back door before anyone else was awake, and he immediately began to head towards the edge of town, making sure to avoid the beach after Herakles’s warning. As he travelled the half hour it took to get to their own secluded space, he only worried for Herakles being left alone, or being discovered before he reached the bay. He hoped for nothing terrible to happen.

Herakles had already been waiting for a while when Kiku finally arrived. Dawn was only just breaking as the human sat beside him on the beach. Herakles’s eyes were closed and he seemed to be deep in thought. Kiku waited for several minutes before he decided to speak.  
“Is everything alright?” He asked.  
“…I don’t really… Want you to go again.” Herakles sighed, opening his eyes to look at Kiku properly. “I keep thinking… About us running away somewhere. Away from all of this. We’d go somewhere where humans and merpeople aren’t fighting, and we’d live together. I want… I want to run away with you Kiku.” He stared at the human with an intensity Kiku hadn’t seen in him before.  
“I…” Kiku swallowed. “I can’t just leave. My family…”  
“I know.” Herakles answered. “I don’t want to… Take you away from all that. So I don’t know what to do. I tried thinking about it over and over… But there’s no solution I can think of. And the beach is being attacked again today. And probably tomorrow. Sooner or later… I can’t help but worry someone you love will be hurt. And that… Hurts me too. Because I love Kiku.”  
“Maybe we should live for today.” Kiku tried to suggest, wanting to cheer Herakles up at least a little. He shifted a little closer to him and tried to look as encouraging as he could.  
“Live in the now…” Herakles considered it, laying his hand on top of Kiku’s. “Maybe if we were to live today as if everything were okay. As if we were together and happy and… Living somewhere.”   
“If we were… What would it be like?” Kiku prompted him.  
“I would like it like that. Me and Kiku… We could just be together. And I could love Kiku all I want and nobody would be able to get in the way. And we could do things… As mates, and we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”  
“Maybe you should love me like that.” Kiku blurted out, almost without thinking about it.

Silence reigned for a few seconds as Kiku blushed red in realisation of his own words and Herakles tried to work out if he was serious.  
“…Do you want to do something like that?” The merman asked finally.  
Kiku thought for a moment. They were out in the open and they could die tomorrow and it was probably utterly inappropriate… But then, in that moment, Kiku found he didn’t mind about that. Because if they truly could die tomorrow, and they were living for today…  
“Yes.” He confirmed, nodding a little shakily.  
Herakles leaned over Kiku, placing a hand onto his shoulder and gently pushing him back into the sand. “If that’s true… What would you like to do?”  
“Ah…” Kiku’s eyes darted around as he searched for a response. “I… Don’t really know. Just something.”  
“Hmm…” Herakles considered. “You told me once that being naked in the presence of another was no different to you than mating itself. So for one thing… I’d like to see you without your clothes. And then… I want to kiss every part of your body and find out what it feels like.”  
“To describe it like that… So bluntly…” Kiku chocked before calming down a little. “Okay. If that’s what you want.” He began slowly unbuttoning his shirt, still feeling entirely awkward.

Herakles gained a strange look of fascination and appeared to watch Kiku intently, which only made him feel even more nervous. When the human shrugged his shirt off, Herakles grabbed it and tried to fiddle with the buttons.  
“I always wondered… How these work…” He mused to himself.  
“Uh… Do you want me to continue still?” Kiku checked, not sure what his boyfriend was doing.  
“Hm? Oh. Of course. I was just looking.” Herakles confirmed, turning back to Kiku.

Kiku could feel Herakles’s eyes studying his chest as he worked on removing his trousers and underwear. Once he had succeeded in getting rid of the rest of his clothes, the merman’s interest in him only seemed to grow.  
“I always was interested in your legs.” He confessed, lifting one of Kiku’s thighs in his hand and turning his face into the skin.  
“Uh…” Kiku shuddered a little. “But haven’t you… Seen humans naked before? When you killed people?”  
“My kind…” Herakles frowned. “They eat people. They don’t look at them. And it’s not what I want to think about right now.”  
“Sorry.” The human looked off to the side.  
“Besides, it’s different now.” Herakles kissed softly against his boyfriend’s skin. “I’m with you. I’m with someone I love.”  
“Ah…” Kiku gasped quietly at the contact.   
“Is something wrong? Did I hurt you?” Herakles fretted, freezing in place.  
“No, I…” Kiku swallowed thickly. “It was… Nice.”  
“Is that… Where you like to be touched?” Herakles assumed. “No wonder you cover yourself with clothes all the time.” He began kissing further up the inside of the human’s leg, until he was at the join between his thigh and his torso.  
Kiku clamped his lips shut, not wanting to admit how much he liked that.

Herakles stopped before he went any further, continuing to stare at Kiku’s hips for quite a while before actually speaking.  
“What… Is that?” He asked, pointing to a particular part of his boyfriend’s anatomy.  
Kiku was incredibly confused and awkward. “Herakles… Have you honestly never seen a penis before?”  
“Of course I…” Herakles shook his head. “No, why is it on the outside?”  
“What are you talking about?” Kiku was dumbfounded. “Where else would it be?”  
“But that must slow you down so much when you swim… Oh.” Herakles looked up at Kiku’s face for the first time. “Your thing about wearing clothes makes more sense by the second.”  
“Uh… No comment.” Kiku shook his head from side to side, trying to get rid of the embarrassment.  
“Don’t worry.” Herakles soothed, crawling up between Kiku’s legs and resting his head on the human’s chest. “I love you no matter what. Even if you look sort of strange.” He began pressing open mouthed kisses to Kiku’s upper body, humming softly to himself as he did. The human ended up feeling almost useless as Herakles showered him in affection.  
“Even though we’re so different… Up here we’re also the same…” Herakles mused, continuing to kiss back up to Kiku’s face before noticing the discomfort on his face. “What is it…?”  
“I am sorry I cannot be more responsive.” Kiku apologised. “I do not know how to act…”  
“It doesn’t matter.” Herakles insisted. “There aren’t rules to anything like this. It’s not like I have experience with this…” He smiled reassuringly. “Do whatever you feel like doing. Whatever makes you happy.”  
“Umm…” Kiku shakenly reached his arms up to embrace Herakles, hands splayed out over his back and caressing at the skin slightly. “Is this… Any good at all?”  
“Kiku…” Herakles looked on fondly. “For you… To be naked like this before someone is already a big step, right? Your love already comes across clearly.” He leaned down over Kiku again, licking sloppily at his ear. “Anything you do is good enough.”

Herakles stuck to his word, kissing and licking over every piece of Kiku’s skin he could reach. The human felt himself heat up under the attention, his mind beginning to fog over with lust as he grasped over Herakles’s back, reached for his arms, grabbed at the hard muscle above him for support before exploring over his boyfriend’s chest with his hands.  
Herakles’s skin was still wet from the sea, but his body was firm and hardly yielded under his touch. Kiku wondered whether the merman even felt the pressure of his fingers. But Herakles looked on at him with contented, heavy-lidded eyes, and it helped brush away the human’s fears over the issue. Herakles leaned in once more, continuing his barrage of kisses.

Kiku closed his eyes and felt every touch. He continued to hold onto Herakles, felt the pleasure of his boyfriend’s actions, and then drew frustrated at the restraint he perceived in his movements. He knew Herakles was afraid of hurting him, but still…  
“Is there something wrong?” Herakles guessed, pulling away from Kiku’s jaw. “You’re so quiet… Do you not like this?”  
“No, it’s not that…” Kiku’s eyes flew back open and he gripped Herakles’s shoulders. “I just don’t know what to say… Or what to do with myself, really…”  
“What to say? What about what you want?” Herakles suggested.  
“I… What I want?” Kiku was back to struggling for the words. Expressing emotion wasn’t the easiest of things. “I want… This, but…” He swallowed. “Harder.”  
“Harder?” Herakles repeated.  
“Yes.” Kiku met Herakles’s eyes as he became surer of himself. “I’m not made of glass, so…”  
He was cut off as Herakles’s lips met his roughly. Kiku felt his boyfriend’s weight fall fully on top of him as Herakles’s hands moved into his hair and Kiku’s arms wound around the merman’s back. He felt the tongue pressing against his own within seconds and he responded with as much passion as he felt himself able to conjure. He had forgotten about Herakles’s teeth, and when he pulled back momentarily, a small amount of blood ran out of his mouth.

“I hurt you.” Herakles fretted.  
“No, I’m okay…” Kiku tried to reassure him. “Please don’t stop over this.”  
“Hmm…” Herakles leaned down and licked along the underside of Kiku’s jaw. “More like this then…?”  
Kiku panted and nodded in assent, beginning to run his hands up and down his boyfriend’s back as the larger figure on top of him began to lick and kiss back down his body, getting a little adventurous but making sure not to risk letting his teeth anywhere near Kiku’s skin.

Herakles continued to work at showering Kiku with attention, his kisses soon growing hungrier and more substantial as his arousal grew. Kiku let out a shuddering gasp as Herakles honed in on a sensitive part of his chest, making the human wonder whether his boyfriend somehow had a sense for knowing exactly how to get a reaction out of him. Yet despite his growing eagerness, Herakles made sure never to hurt him or cause any break in his skin, and Kiku responded with his own feather light touches that made Herakles smile against his body.

Herakles focused particular attention on his neck as Kiku tilted his head back and panted heavily, tracing patterns along his larger boyfriend’s side. As Herakles sucked at a particular point along the join of his shoulder and neck, Kiku let out a breathy moan, and his boyfriend pushed himself up on his hands to glance over his whole body properly, looking as worked up as Kiku felt.  
“How do you feel now?” Herakles asked, pressing a few more halting kisses along the human’s torso.  
“Mmn…” Kiku had to stop to swallow before he spoke, voice sounding breathless and strained. “I… More. Please.”   
“Should I touch you like this now?” Herakles checked, hand trailing further down his body and cupping his hip before moving over the join of his leg. “Would you like that?”  
Kiku nodded, biting his lip as Herakles smiled reassuringly and trailed his fingers slowly over the hardened length of his boyfriend’s arousal, noting the hitch in Kiku’s breath before taking a firmer grip.  
“Is this what you want?” Herakles checked, leaning up so that his breath ghosted over Kiku’s ear.  
“Y-yes.” Kiku shivered. “Please…”   
Herakles smiled, dropping his body down so he was flush against Kiku again, but this time wrapping his tail loosely around one of the human’s legs and thrusting their hips against each other. Kiku let out a hesitant moan, and Herakles swallowed thickly, gripping Kiku’s shoulders before rutting against the human, gradually building up a rhythm as he got more and more worked up.  
“This… It feels good. You make me feel… Really good.” Herakles groaned out, panting right next to his boyfriend’s ear.  
“Ah… Me too.” Kiku gasped out, trying to find purchase with his hands. Yet the sand below him had no firmness to it, and Herakles’s skin slipped from his grip, wet as they both were with sweat.

Herakles returned to sucking at Kiku’s neck, growing steadily less coherent as his arousal grew closer to its peak, breaking the contact to breathe raggedly over his boyfriend’s neck. Kiku closed his eyes, beginning to let out louder and shakier moans. Right as the human felt as though he could take no more, Herakles tightened his grip on his shoulders, froze, and cried out. The human felt something splash against his hip. Then Herakles fell slack above him, and Kiku sighed in frustration, feeling that he was on the edge. Herakles recovered after a few seconds enough to look hazily up at Kiku, and seemed to pick up on the problem quickly.  
“Sorry.” The merman apologised, returning his hand to his boyfriend’s erection. “I wouldn’t want to forget about you.” He began stroking up and down, trying to bring Kiku pleasure.  
“Ah…” Kiku threw his head back, arousal heightened by the foreign touch.   
“It’s okay…” Herakles promised, stroking his boyfriend’s face with his free hand.  
Kiku continued to pant heavily, already back to the very edge. Herakles continued to stroke Kiku, lightly squeezing his arousal as he leaned in to kiss his boyfriend messily. Surrounded by sensation, Kiku reached climax seconds later, arching up against Herakles and moaning raggedly. 

“You have to have done that before.” Kiku argued, sprawled out blissfully on the sand.  
“With someone? No. But among my family, I was always encouraged to explore myself, and come to terms with my own… Desires.” Herakles shrugged.  
“I’m not… I am not sure of what you mean.” Kiku answered, thoroughly confused.  
“Don’t tell me you never touched yourself before.” Herakles looked over to Kiku quizzically.  
“Uh, well…” Kiku thought back to his days of 2D girls and dating sims. “It has happened… Once or twice.”  
“But then you seem so surprised by everything…” Herakles mused. Kiku wasn’t sure how to explain that foreplay was never something he’d been worried about before. “I guess it is different with an actual person though…” The merman frowned. “Please don’t be so nervous for my sake.”  
“Is it not natural to feel unnerved when doing something for the first time?” Kiku looked down. “I just felt unsure as to what you wanted from me specifically. Experience will improve things.”  
“That’s true…” Herakles gripped Kiku’s hand. “I’m glad… That you seem more comfortable with everything. I love you Kiku.”  
“I… Love you too.” Kiku uttered, resting his head on his boyfriend’s chest and drifting into a peaceful nap.

Sunset saw the two awake once more, and Herakles seemed just as apprehensive as ever.  
“Do you really have to leave?” He asked, frowning as Kiku shrugged his clothes back on.  
“You know I have to.” Kiku shook his head, pushing his boyfriend away. “I cannot abandon my family.”  
“Of course.” Herakles accepted. “But still, stay safe. Please come back safe.”  
“I’ll try my best.” Kiku offered, standing up. “Please try to stay safe as well. I’ll be back tomorrow.”  
“See you soon.” Herakles promised, watching him walk away.

Sadik was in a panic as he swam towards the beach.  
While out hunting earlier in the day he had overheard some mermaids talking about following Herakles, and he was alarmed about the implications. However much he fought with the other merman, he didn’t want to see him terrorised, and he didn’t want Kiku to be put into danger either. With that mindset, he was determined to warn Herakles about their plans.

He hadn’t counted on the perpetrators following him.

“Hey, you’re not honestly going to warn that brat are you?” One of the bolder mermaids shouted behind him. “I thought you were better than that Sadik. I thought you’d be on our side.”  
Sadik whipped around, angry at the group. “I’m not gonna let ya torture him like this. Hera might be a brat, but he doesn’t deserve to be tormented by the likes of you!” He seethed.  
“That implies there’s something to find…” The mermaid that spoke before grinned, swimming closer to Sadik and stroking his face idly. “So tell us… Where is the human that brat’s been hiding?”  
“As if I’d ever tell ya that!” Sadik spat in her face.  
“But there is a human.” She leered, slapping Sadik suddenly and with enough force to send him reeling. “Search the coast!” She barked orders to the other gathered merpeople. “I want that brat found! We’ll get the information even if we have to beat it out of them!”  
“No ya don’t!” Sadik fought back, tackling the mermaid before him. 

She tore back at him with sharpened claws, causing deep gashes to Sadik’s skin, and he responded with a powerful kick to her torso with his tail. Sadik was strong, and had it been just the one mermaid, he probably would have won the fight. But several hands were on him before he could launch another attack, and vicious and vindictive merpeople pulled at his hair and clawed down his face as they struggled to restrain him.  
“Lock that traitor up!” The leader of the group commanded, sounding winded after the kick. “And see what information you can glean from him.” After glaring in Sadik’s direction, she turned and followed after the others who were searching the coastline for Herakles.  
“Ya’ll never win, ya crazy bitch!” Sadik swore after the retreating mermaid, still refusing to give in even as the surrounding merpeople jostled him back to the pod’s living area, shoving him along with harsh pushes with their hands and tails as they swam.

Herakles had decided to linger on the beach for a while after Kiku had left before heading back to the pod. In that time, he had taken the time to further consider the issues he and his boyfriend faced. Finally, he thought that maybe he had a solution. After all, his mother was leaving on a trip for several days. If he spent that time away from the pod… For a while, perhaps he and Kiku could slip under the radar. The pod would probably just assume he was with his mother as always. It was fool proof.

Or it would have been, had he not been caught as he slipped back into the water from the beach.  
“Finally found you, you brat!” A blonde mermaid hissed, grabbing Herakles roughly by the arm. “You have no idea how much trouble you’ve caused us!”  
“So this is where you were hiding with your precious human?” A brunette sneered. “And you really thought we wouldn’t find out? Really?”  
“Eww, he even stinks of human!” A red head complained. “That stench is everywhere! We have to help the deluded brat!”  
“I don’t need help.” Herakles insisted, trying to wiggle out of the grasp of the first mermaid. “Besides, what’s it to you?”  
“What’s it to us? We’re fighting a war!” The blonde screeched, dragging Herakles under the water. “And here you are, literally sleeping with the enemy! It’s enough to make me sick!”  
“…There shouldn’t be a war. We could… We could be at peace. We choose to keep fighting.” Herakles argued.  
“Oh my God, they’ve already gotten to him.” The brunette mermaid rolled her eyes.  
“Right. This is why you need help.” The first insisted. “So just tell us who your human is and where they live. We’ll take care of them.”  
“Never!” Herakles growled, suddenly less inclined to attempt to talk it out.  
“We can’t turn a blind eye anymore.” The red headed mermaid insisted. “You’re coming back with us. And you’re staying out of the way. We’ll find that human without you. Maybe we’ll wait at the beach tomorrow. Then they’ll die.”  
“No!” Herakles screamed, punching her square in the jaw and turning around to fight the other two mermaids. 

He didn’t care for the lives of the others before them. They had threatened Kiku, and that was enough for Herakles to throw any thoughts of loyalty to his kind aside. He lashed out at one mermaid, clawing at her side, before moving to tackle another. When three pairs of hands grabbed him, he bit at the claws trying to restrain him, not worrying about the blood that diffused softly through the water nor the pained swears of his captors.  
“Enough of this.” The blonde determined, throttling Herakles as she threw him back into a rock wall, pulling him forwards and backwards so his head hit against the surface. Herakles saw his vision starting to blur, but as he tried to balance himself to head-butt his attacker, he blacked out.

Herakles started to regain consciousness minutes later, and found himself lying in a section of the coral the merpeople called home. Sadik was shouting indiscriminately at a group of merpeople situated outside. As Herakles slowly rose and made his way over to the entrance, he saw the others outside were readying thick vines and bars of wood to bar them exit from the cave.  
“See what happens when you struggle? Now you have to pay for your treachery with a spell in our prison… And the human you adore so much will suffer so much worse.” The blonde mermaid from before threatened, smirking at Herakles from a safe distance. The merman noticed the deep cuts to her face, marring the beauty that was once there. The sense of triumph was barely felt against the torrent of dread and fear that was rising within Herakles. He felt as though he would be sick.

“He poses no threat to you! Leave him alone!” Herakles begged, trying to catch the hands of the mermaid who was barricading him and Sadik within the coral.  
“Not a chance. I’ll kill your little human and put you back on the right path.” She sneered.  
Herakles collapsed backwards into the space as Sadik glared harshly at the gathered group.  
“Yer’ll regret this. All of ya.”  
“Doubt it.” A second mermaid shrugged, as the whole group left them there, jubilant in their success. Herakles flopped onto the coral, deflated, as Sadik tried to test the security of the cage. It didn’t budge.

Hours passed before anyone came by the coral again. Just as Sadik was about to give up as well, he heard a voice that could only have belonged to the matriarch. Herakles picked up from where he had been dozing off and they peered out of their prison to regard Helene and Loukas, who had gathered in front of the structure. They hadn’t noticed the pair of Herakles and Sadik.  
“Where is Herakles? I would like to say goodbye to him at least before I go.” Helene puzzled.  
“He’s almost certainly sleeping somewhere. I wouldn’t worry.” Loukas assumed. “Let’s go mama. We don’t want to be late.”  
“No! Wait!” Sadik yelled, trying once more to slam the barricade open.  
“Mama!” Herakles screamed, swimming up to the makeshift cage and rattling it as hard as he could. “Mama, don’t go!” 

Nobody heard them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles and Sadik try to escape their prison as Kiku wanders headlong into a trap. An escape is made, but there are sacrifices to be made along the way to freedom...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another really long chapter this time too.  
> So this chapter is really quite sad, although there is hope still there. There was originally going to be more humour to balance out the tragedy but then drama happened and things ended up really different to what I planned.  
> The chapter after this one will have a lot less action and hopefully a little more funny, but aside from that things are getting really intense story wise now. So yeah.

Kiku awoke the next morning oblivious to everything that had happened. Mei let him out again just after dawn, and he knew to avoid the beach (Herakles had said there was a large chance of the merpeople attacking again). He crept through the town and along the half hour walk to the bay that was a respite for him and Herakles from everything that they had to deal with in their lives. The events of the day before seemed awkward and imperfect in hindsight, but despite this, the man knew he would do it all again. There was no way to reverse the change in their relationship that had occurred, and he wouldn’t want to try. Instead, he found himself wanting to get back to Herakles as soon as possible, so that they could make the most of the time they had together.

When Kiku first arrived at the beach, it was strangely empty. Even after a few minutes had passed, there was no sign of Herakles. Kiku began to worry, not being able to recall a time where this had happened since the day he had met Sadik for the first time. He took to searching the beach for his boyfriend. Just as he was beginning to grow frantic, the sweep of his gaze set upon a merman sitting out on the coral some distance away. Kiku ran towards the figure, water rushing up to his ankles. He didn’t care. He didn’t think.

“Herakles.” He greeted, only able to see the back of the merman still. “I was beginning to worry.” He stepped closer, to within touching distance. Suddenly, his hand was grabbed, and the merman turned around. He was not Herakles.  
“Hello human.” The merman leered, tugging hard on Kiku’s hand. “How about we go for a little swim?”  
“Let go.” Kiku hissed, preparing to fight the merman. He kicked at the creature’s tail, but the merman dragged him on into the sea regardless.  
“The more you struggle…” The merman warned, snaking an arm around Kiku’s waist. “The worse it gets for you.” He dove beneath the waves with Kiku, ignoring the human’s struggles and kicks. Several more merpeople appeared and helped to restrain Kiku. He tried to fight against the many hands holding him, but it was useless. As he continued to try to get away, his breath began to grow short. His arms started to feel heavy and sluggish, and his entire body fell limp as he blacked out.

Herakles picked himself up off the coral and looked forlornly to the bars on the front of their prison. Sadik was still trying to find a way to escape.  
“We have to hurry brat.” He warned, rattling the cage. “It’s monin’ out there now. And that means that group of bastards are gonna be out there lookin’ for Kiku. So we gotta move.”  
“How?” Herakles asked, joining Sadik at the front of the coral. “We’ve tried to break down the bars. They won’t budge.”  
“We can’t give up!” Sadik insisted. “Do ya want to abandon yer boyfriend like this?”  
“Of course not.” Herakles fumed.   
“Then we’ll find another way. Maybe we can exploit some of the holes in the coral. Make a tunnel.” Sadik suggested, moving around their confined area and banging on the walls, trying to find hollow space. “So are ya just gonna sit there or do ya want to help?”  
“Fine.” Herakles accepted, setting to work. There had to be some way…

Kiku opened his eyes to find himself in a pocket of air contained within a sealed sea cave. His arms and legs were tied up to a post that had been driven into the sand behind him. Merpeople filled the empty space, watching Kiku like a hawk.  
“So this is the human? The one causing all that trouble? Wow, how pathetic.” The blonde ringleader of the mermaids spat.   
“What are you talking about?” Kiku asked.  
“That stupid brat Herakles.” The mermaid continued. “Has gone completely soft since he started hanging out with you. Now I never liked the dolt, but he’s the son of the matriarch, so we have to look out for him, you know? So tell us. What did you do to him?”  
“I didn’t do anything.” Kiku insisted. “And our relationship has nothing to do with you.”  
“Of course it has everything to do with us.” A brunette chipped in. “You’re probably seducing him or leading him into a trap. Then you’ll capture or kill him just to get at the matriarch.”  
“I don’t even know what a matriarch is!” Kiku defended himself. “I saved Herakles’s life. Why would I then kill him?”  
“Well, I don’t know.” The blonde shrugged. “Maybe you’re that manipulative. What’s your name anyway?”

Kiku stayed silent, and this proved to be a bad move. The brunette mermaid dug her fingernails into Kiku’s shoulders, pressing down hard until she drew blood. Kiku held back from reacting, completely enduring the attack.  
“Now. Tell me. Who are you?” She hissed, tightening a hand around Kiku’s neck. “Unless your life has no value?”  
“Kiku.” Said human relented. “Honda.”  
“Honda…” The blonde mermaid considered. “Nope, never heard of you. Your parents hunters, Honda? Got any fame in the family?”  
“I…” Kiku wasn’t sure what to say. If he admitted the truth about his father… What would they do to him?”  
“Wait wait wait.” A merman at the back piped up. He seemed older than the others, more ragged and a little scarred from a lifetime of fighting. “I know that face. Seen it somewhere. Let me think… Got any brothers? Yao Wang maybe?”  
“Yao?” Kiku echoed, unable to stop his face from lighting up in recognition. What did Yao have to do with any of this?  
“Yeah. I remember that one. Your older brother maybe? You got some resemblance there. Yeah, I remember your folk.” The older merman detailed. “Remember it like it was yesterday. That stupid little boy came out in his boat. Fishing or some shit. Thought he was safe? Thought he could live in harmony with the sea and nature? He was pathetic. Weak. Like that kid had forgotten there was a war or something.” He laughed, and Kiku felt sick. He remembered that time, vaguely. When their father was still alive, both Yao and Kiku had fought against his ideals. It was only after his death that Yao had taken up the mantle of their family. It hadn’t been the same since.  
“Well we don’t take mercy on children. I snatched that kid right from that dinghy. Thought I had an easy kill on my hands. And then your father.” The merman spat the words like they were poison. “He had to interfere. Had to come there armed with a spear and a knife and a harpoon.” He gestured to a torn fin on his side, and a large scar up his side that seemed to have never healed. “And he did a number on me. Kid escaped. But I made sure that son of a human bitch paid with his life.”

Kiku had no idea how to respond. They were clearly trying to make him angry by recounting this tale. And if he was being honest, Kiku would have to admit that he felt some shock at the statements. He had no idea that Yao had ever been in that much danger. And despite knowing that his father had been killed by merpeople, to hear it described back to him was like a slap in the face. But he felt no desire for revenge. He had gotten over his father’s death long ago.  
“If you are trying to get a reaction out of me, I must say you are wasting your time.” He replied, passive mask sliding on easily. “You shall find that I am nothing like my father.”  
“Does it matter?” The blonde sighed, clearly bored with the charade. “You’ll die to us all the same. We can’t have Herakles losing sight of the true path.”  
“Maybe there can be peace.” Kiku suggested, calmly. “There is no real reason for us to keep fighting.”  
“Ugh, how naïve.” The brunette gagged. “You sound just like the stupid kid in that story. Don’t you get that there’s a war on?”  
“There doesn’t have to be.” Kiku insisted.  
“We’ll see about that.” The blonde threatened.

Darkness fell over the human town as the people counted their dead. The day had been rough. Mei stood in Kiku’s room, fiddling with the curtains uneasily. There had been no sign of her brother. And he was supposed to have come back hours ago. Fear began to creep up the spine of the girl as she thought of all the things that could have happened to Kiku, out there on that day of so much destruction. She knew she had to tell Yao. And she knew what it would do to him. Resigning herself to that fact, she trudged back down the stairs, to where the rest of the family was gathered, cleaning up after the night’s dinner.  
“Mei. Is Kiku still in a sulk? You can tell him that there’s food for him in the fridge.” Yao commented, not even turning around.  
“Yao…” Mei swallowed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Kiku’s… Not in his room.”  
“What?” Yao asked, voice unnervingly level.  
“I helped him sneak out this morning!” Mei blurted out, unable to stand the pressure. “I’m sorry! I’m convinced he has a secret lover he’s been trying to see and he was really distraught and two days ago he snuck out by himself and I thought that was crazy so I said I’d help and…” She stopped, eyes welling up with tears. “I thought he’d stay safe…”

Yao walked over to the window, watching the growing night. For a few seconds, there was no sound. The other members of the family looked uneasily between each other while Mei looked down at the ground, unable to fight the forming tears. Then Yao spoke.  
“I’m going out there.” He proposed.  
“What? It’s too dangerous!” Mei argued.  
“At least take me with you!” Yong Soo suggested.  
“No and no! You’re all staying here!” The eldest of the siblings snapped, turning around and regarding his family with a glare. “I don’t want another of you getting lost out there! I will go out on the sea, I will find Kiku, and I will bring him back, regardless of anything else! So help me, I will not lose even one more member of this family to this pointless slaughter!” He took several breaths. “It’s my burden. I am the oldest. I must go. Alone.” He turned towards the door and stormed out, leaving shaking picture frames and Mei’s strangled sobs in his wake.

Sadik had found a weakness in the coral some time ago, and had been digging away in an attempt to form a tunnel while Herakles kept watch. Just as he thought Sadik was getting somewhere, he saw approaching merpeople, and was quick to press himself up against the bars so as to mask what his cellmate was doing.  
“How’s it going brat?” The merman at the front of the group jeered. “Guess what? We caught that little human of yours. Cute little thing, am I right?”  
Herakles gritted his teeth. “Let him go.” He warned.  
“No can do. We’re interrogating him as we speak. Gonna find out exactly what that guy’s agenda is. What he’s planning to do to betray us. Then when we know… He’ll be finished.” The merman smirked.   
“He’s got no agenda of any kind. He’s no threat to us. He just wants peace.” Herakles seethed. “And if you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you for it. I’ll fight you all if I have to.”  
“See, this is why I’m so suspicious. You were always so laid back. Always did what you were told. And now you’ll fight us? Don’t make me laugh.” The merman shook his head. “What happened Herakles?”  
“You don’t understand. This is what happens when you love people.” Herakles mused.  
“Really? Well if it is I don’t want to understand.” The merman finalised. “How about we just kill that human and then undo his brainwashing on you, huh?”  
“You won’t win.” Herakles insisted.  
“Hey Hera! While I’m sure yer havin’ a nice time discussing ideology with that bastard, it might be better if we just go now, eh?” Sadik piped up, already beginning to dive into the newly opened hole.  
“Wait, what?” The merman on the outside questioned, as Herakles looked behind him and smiled before following after Sadik. The gathered merpeople were left frantic, pulling on the bars and trying to work out where the hole led.

“If that guy’s even close to the truth in this, we gotta hurry and save Kiku.” Sadik insisted, making his way out of the coral some distance from the chasing merpeople and starting his swim in the direction of the usual cave the merpeople used to imprison humans in.  
“We’re sure this cave will be the right one?” Herakles checked, knowing where they were heading.  
“He implied that Kiku’s still alive. I don’t know anywhere else they could keep him where he could still breathe.” Sadik assured him. “Now we just gotta get there.”

Kiku drifted in and out of consciousness as the water around him blended into a shade of red. Multiple small scratches covered his body and bruises were forming on the skin of his face from where he had been hit. Despite the intimidation he had been subjected to, he still refused to show his pain outwardly or tell the merpeople anything of value. He wasn’t going to let them have the satisfaction of winning.  
“We are seriously getting nowhere.” The blonde mermaid from before sighed. “Just tell us your plans, or this time we kill you. I’ve had enough of this.”  
“I have no plans.” Kiku repeated the words he had been stating since the beginning.  
“Fine. I don’t care anymore. You can just die.” The mermaid decided.  
Kiku merely glared at her. There was no way he was going to let them know he was afraid.  
“Like hell we’ll let ya kill him!” Sadik interrupted, crashing into the scene. Herakles swam in behind him, quickly reaching Kiku’s side and untying him.  
“Are you okay?” He asked, stroking Kiku’s cheek comfortingly. The human wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and nodded to show that he was alright. Herakles smiled.  
“You can’t just barge in here!” The blonde mermaid yelled, glaring at the group.   
“Yeah? Try us!” Sadik retorted, kicking at the mermaid before turning back to Herakles.   
“Swim for it!” He advised, turning and barging several merpeople out of the way before diving and making a break for freedom.  
“Hold your breath… And hold on to me.” Herakles instructed Kiku, holding onto Kiku tightly before dipping underneath the water and starting to swim away from the area.

Yao rowed the boat out deeper into the ocean, torchlight searching the water for any sign of human life. One hand made its way to the dagger concealed at his side. In truth, the man wasn’t sure whether he would be able to fight off all of the merpeople secluded around the coral. But if Kiku was in mortal danger… He would do all he could.  
“Kiku!” He yelled into the inky blackness of the sea at night. “Kiku, where are you?”  
As he looked around at the swells of the sea, noting the lack of life, he prepared himself to dive under the water if need be. He would bring Kiku back.

Sadik was just ahead of them as Herakles and Kiku swam onwards in the direction of the shoreline. There were merpeople not far behind, giving chase, but Herakles was hopeful that they would make it. Even as they lost ground to their pursuers, he wasn’t willing to give up. Kiku was only able to watch, not able to speak with his breath held. He held onto Herakles as tight as he could.  
“Shit…” Sadik swore, looking over his shoulder and falling into line with Herakles. “No use. They’re gainin’ on us. In a sec they’ll be right on us.”  
“What do we do?” Herakles asked. “We can’t give up now…”  
“Go.” Sadik offered. “I’ll hold ‘em off. Buy ya both some time.”  
“What?” Herakles asked, shocked. “What about you?”  
“Don’t worry about it.” Sadik tried to up his bravado. “I won’t let ‘em take me down without a fight. I’ll keep strugglin’ on. I’ll get away. But Kiku can’t hold his breath forever Hera. Ya can’t fight here. Ya gotta get to the surface, then back to land.”  
Kiku looked over to Sadik. He had grown to respect this merman, and wasn’t sure about his plan. He didn’t exactly want Sadik in danger either.  
“It… Makes sense.” Herakles accepted. “Thank you Sadik.” He pulled Kiku away, darting towards the surface.  
“Yeah, well ya still owe me one for this brat!” Sadik laughed, turning around and throwing himself into the crowd of chasing merpeople, trying to latch onto the ones at the front and prevent them from moving.

Herakles and Kiku made it to the water’s surface and Kiku spluttered for air as his boyfriend looked around.  
“I don’t think we’ve been found yet…” He commented, before squinting at something in the distance. “There’s a boat over there.”  
“Really?” Kiku followed Herakles’s gaze, soon seeing a shape in the darkness. “Maybe…” A plan began to form in his head.  
“What are you thinking?” Herakles asked, watching the human.  
“The boat can take me to shore… But they probably won’t accept you. Perhaps… If you get to shore by yourself, when I get off the boat I can carry you back to my house.” Kiku plotted.  
“That would be safer than the two of us trying to swim together along the surface.” Herakles considered. “But if you’re late getting to where I am, there would be problems… If either humans or merpeople found me trying to beach myself. I’d need a place to hide.”  
“Maybe the cave you spent time in before?” Kiku offered.  
“Loukas is the only other merperson to know of that cave… And he’s hunting with mama…” Herakles mulled it over. “Yes. That will do.”

“Kiku? Is that you?!” Came a voice from the direction of the boat.  
“Yao?” Kiku called back before turning to Herakles to clarify. “I think that’s my brother…”  
“That’s good.” Herakles sighed, relieved. “I know you’re safe…” He let go of Kiku and sunk into the water. “Come and find me.”   
“Be safe.” Kiku reminded him as Herakles slipped away.

“Kiku!” Yao called over the side of the boat, drawing up beside the human and extending his hand over the edge. “You’re actually… I actually found you!”  
“I’m sorry.” Kiku apologised, before anything else could be said.  
“Never mind that! Get in, come on!” His brother insisted, still holding his hand out. Kiku took it and Yao pulled him up and into the boat.  
“Kiku, honestly we were so worried…” The older brother sighed, looking his sibling over. “We thought you had been taken and killed when the mermaids attacked the beach today. And look at you! You’re all beaten up!”  
“I… Escaped.” Kiku told him. It was better to spare Yao the details.  
“You did.” Yao smiled, blinking back tears. “Kiku, don’t ever do that to us again.”  
“I’ll be more careful.” The younger promised, looking down at the wood of the boat.  
“Okay.” Yao nodded. “Now, let’s get you home and patched up. You look like you could use a bath if nothing else.”

Sadik spat blood as he pushed himself up off of the sand. So it hadn’t been his best idea to try to take on the rest of the pod by himself. But at least Herakles and Kiku were long gone.  
“You’ve caused enough trouble.” One of the stronger mermen criticised. “Now get out of our sight.”  
“Yeah, consider yourself an outcast, human lover.” One of the younger mermaids chimed in. “Don’t think about coming back to our waters if you value your life.”   
Sadik fought back the urge to spit and swear at the gathered crowd. If the matriarch was here… But Helene was hunting, and Herakles was in hiding. It was better to go along with it for now.  
“Like I’d want to be around the likes of any of ya bastards any longer anyway.” He snarked at the group, taking off into the sea with a flash of vibrant red.  
His wounds stung. He was certain he’d ripped a fin. He trailed blood behind him that made it look as though his tail was melting into the water. He was certainly a state. But he was alive. And he knew Herakles would be safe. Somehow, the other merman would figure it out.  
“Ya really owe me now, ya brat…” He mused as he took off into the deep ocean.

Just before dawn, Kiku snuck out of the house yet again. There had been tears and celebration when he had returned home, and between all of his family members, he had been kept up half the night being fussed over. He was bruised and tired, and wanted nothing more than to sleep. But one thing had to be taken care of first.

The net in his hands was sturdy and large. Kiku dragged it along with him all the way to the cave on the beach. Herakles was already waiting for him, dozing against the sand. He picked up upon seeing Kiku.  
“That should help.” He evaluated, moving closer to the human. “Can you manage…?”   
“I’ll be fine.” Kiku assured him, picking Herakles up as best as he could and dragging him into the net before pulling it closed around him.  
“Don’t pull too hard.” Herakles advised him. “I don’t want rope burn.”  
“Of course.” Kiku replied, beginning the slow task of moving Herakles back to his house.

Nobody saw them make the journey, and Herakles was brought into Kiku’s home without incident (although the human’s head ached from the multitude of questions he had been asked).  
“This… Is what a human’s house looks like.” Herakles mused to himself.   
“We just have to get you to the bathroom.” Kiku explained. “Up here.” He struggled to lift Herakles’s own weight in his arms but just about managed, and began carrying him up the stairs.  
“These are stairs… This is how you go up.” Herakles commented to himself.  
“Not too loud… My family are sleeping.” Kiku tried to insist, getting up the stairs with some difficulty and walking the short distance to the bathroom before placing Herakles in the bath, somewhat unsteadily and to some personal relief.  
“This place…” Herakles looked around, trying to figure it out.  
“We wash here.” Kiku tried to detail, moving over to the taps of the bath and turning the water on. “So we fill this container with water for that purpose. You can stay wet in the water of the bath, and I can go to my room and get some sleep.” Kiku relayed to Herakles as he filled the bath with water.  
“I want to see Kiku’s room…” Herakles complained.  
“Maybe some other time.” The human rebuffed. “You’ve been out of the water for a while. You need to rehydrate.”  
“Fair enough.” The merman accepted. “I shall stay here… And think about things. Maybe I will see your cat. I’d like that.”  
“Maybe you will.” Kiku commented. “Tama does sometimes come in here to play in the toilet bowl.”  
“If I see your cat… Can I pet him?” Herakles requested.  
“If he’ll let you.” Kiku replied with a smile, turning off the water and walking to the door. “Goodnight Herakles.”  
“Goodnight Kiku.” Herakles smiled back, glad to be safe and well.

The waves crashed down against the shoreline of an unfamiliar town. Slowly, footsteps became audible as a man made his way along the beach. He had been hoping to find some seashells to make into necklaces, or some pretty coral he could sell. Anything he could put on his market stand to compliment the pottery was welcome. Instead, he saw only a slumped figure. The man, fearing a human in need of medical attention, ran forwards, but was perplexed to find not a human, but an unconscious merman. He was unable to remember the last time he had seen such a creature.

Regardless, he took note of the many injuries the merman had sustained, and of the pained expression he wore even in sleep, and a decision was made. Gathering his strength, the slight man picked up the larger merman and carried him back towards his house.

A white bone mask and a trace of red were left behind on the sand.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herakles hides out in Kiku's bath, but it's only a matter of time until he's caught. Helene and Loukas return from hunting and get the wrong idea about what happened to Herakles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a whole lot of talk with a serious lull in the action. But hopefully it's a lot lighter than the last couple chapters, which should bring some relief from the angst.
> 
> As you could probably guess from the end of the chapter, the action's going to pick up again come next chapter, and things will probably remain tense from there until the end. So enjoy the respite while it lasts.

Kiku slept in until past noon the next day. In fact, not a single member of the household crawled out of bed until the early afternoon. Yao walked straight downstairs into the kitchen to begin preparing food. Slowly, the other siblings started to wake up and began their daily routines. Kasem was the first to make his way into the bathroom. He was about to leave again before he noticed the strange shape in the bath.  
“Oh. Good morning.” He greeted Herakles (not seeming to come to terms with Herakles’s inhuman nature and the fact that it had not been morning for quite a while).  
“Hello.” The merman replied. “Are you Kiku’s family?”  
“I am.” Kasem smiled. “Are you one of Kiku’s friends?”   
“I am.” Herakles nodded.   
“That’s nice.” Kasem finalised. He turned around and walked from the room without stopping to think about the fact that Kiku’s friend was currently taking up the entire space of the bath.

Hue was the second to discover Herakles in the bathroom. She noticed him quicker than Kasem did (setting eyes upon him soon after walking in). The girl did a double-take, before coming to the conclusion that her family was completely weird and this was just another sign of their eccentricity. Not wanting to make a fuss, she tried to pretend Herakles wasn’t there as she went about her business. As a result, the merman couldn’t get a word out of her.

Mei did scream upon noticing Herakles sitting in the bath. She struggled to hide her decency while the merman looked on with amusement.  
“We don’t wear clothes so much under the sea.” Herakles assured her. “I don’t mind about it.”  
“Well I do mind.” Mei insisted. “What are you doing here anyway?” One look at her and it was obvious that Herakles’s species hadn’t fully sunk in for her either.  
“Kiku put me here.” Herakles stated.  
“I knew it.” Mei clapped her hands together, and Herakles thought for a moment that Mei had figured everything out. “I knew Kiku had a boyfriend! I can’t believe he never said anything.”   
Herakles stared at her as she wandered off into the house, muttering about Kiku’s secrets and how she couldn’t tell anyone about it even if they were going to find out anyway.

Yong Soo burst into the bathroom later on in the day, noticed Herakles rather belatedly, and proceeded to launch into a round of questioning.  
“What are you doing in our bath?”  
“Kiku put me here.”  
“Are you Kiku’s boyfriend?”  
“Yes.”  
“Where did you come from?”  
“The ocean.”  
“That’s weird.” Yong Soo pulled a face. “This is all really weird.” He still looked confused as he made his way into the rest of the house, trying to figure it all out in his own head.  
Kyung Soo came in shortly later, raised an eyebrow at Herakles, and then walked out without saying a word.

Kiku himself returned mid-afternoon, and Herakles lit up instantly upon seeing him.  
“Your family seem very nice.” He commented, drawing Kiku into a loose hug.  
“You’ve met everyone already?” Kiku asked, tensing up.  
“Yes. Although they seem to have assumed that I’m human and just hanging out in the bath for some reason. That or they really don’t know what to think. They all walked off looking confused.” Herakles detailed.  
“I see.” Kiku nodded. “Perhaps I should take a look around the house to see how everyone is taking it.”  
“Okay.” Herakles agreed, leaning in to peck Kiku on the cheek before settling back into the bath.  
Kiku smiled and waved at him before he left.

Li came down the stairs while Kiku and the others were still eating breakfast. Kiku still hadn’t found a way to tell the others about Herakles, but although he was nearly certain most of them had seen the merman, nobody was saying anything. Li walked over to the fridge and poked around inside without a word before suddenly turning to face the rest of the family.  
“Hey guys, we’re like, out of orange juice. Oh yeah, and there’s a merman in the bath. I thought you’d all want to know.” He shrugged.  
For a single beat, there was silence. Then Yao caught the understanding of what was being said.  
“There’s a what?!” He yelled.  
“Oh, I noticed that.” Kasem seconded. “Nice guy.”  
“I swear this family has hit a new low. Or at least a new level of crazy.” Hue sighed.  
“Hey, I thought that was Kiku’s boyfriend!” Mei argued.  
“Kiku?” Yao warned, glaring down at the younger man.  
“Well…” Kiku struggled under the pressure. “Technically, the merman in the bath is my boyfriend.”  
“…”  
“…”  
“Kiku, what the hell?!”

“It all makes sense! No wonder you never wanted to talk about anything!” Mei gushed, as the family sat around trying to work out what to do with their guest upstairs. “Kiku has a merman boyfriend. It’s like something out of a fairytale!”  
“No fairytale I’ve ever read.” Hue commented. “This is more like a Shakespeare play with slightly less death.”  
“There’s like, still time for some more people to die.” Li pointed out.  
“Li! That’s really morbid.” Yong Soo complained.  
“Kiku…” Yao looked around at his gathered family and sighed. “I’m sorry.”  
“Sorry for what?” Kiku questioned.  
“Everyone in town has had such an ingrained hatred of merpeople for so long. And I didn’t do enough to argue against that narrative. Because of that… I left you thinking like you couldn’t talk to us. And the more the troubles with the merpeople escalated, the worse that must have felt. So I’m sorry for not being approachable.” The eldest detailed.  
“It’s not really your fault.” Kiku fretted.  
“I guess with everything happening, it was too risky to let anyone know.” Mei considered.  
“But we do know now!” Yong Soo chipped in. “So… What now?”  
“Why is the merman actually in the bath anyway?” Hue asked.  
“He was exiled… For helping me escape when I was captured.” Kiku explained.  
“That’s so sad!” Mei empathised.  
“But what do we do in the long term?” Yao queried. “He can’t live in the bath forever Kiku.”  
“I don’t know…” Kiku looked down at the ground.  
“For now, show me.” Yao demanded. “Show me this merman.”

The atmosphere was awkward in the bathroom as Kiku and Yao entered. Yao looked Herakles over sceptically.  
“Hello.” Herakles tried to greet. Yao didn’t seem to pay him any attention. It was several minutes later when he spoke.  
“You can’t keep him here.” He assessed. “It’s too dangerous.”  
“What do you mean?” Kiku asked. “Nobody here knows anything about this.”  
“But they’ll find out. We can’t expect to never get visits from the townsfolk. They’re our friends. And Kiku… I can support you, of course I can, but the town… They will never accept this. You’ll no longer be safe here.”

Kiku looked to his brother, eyes pleading. “They won’t accept him either if he returns. He only has his mother to support him. The others will kill him.”  
“I know. There has to be another way…” Yao looked at Kiku pitifully. “Maybe for now you both need to leave. Head down the coastline to a town more accepting or a place more remote. Somewhere they can’t find you.”  
“What about you? Will you just cut me off? I’m not leaving my home, or my friends.” Kiku argued.  
“I could never do that! I don’t know whether we could all follow you, at least right away. But I would help you find somewhere, and send you supplies…” Yao threw back.

It was then that Herakles spoke up from the bath.  
“You’re underestimating mama. She’s the matriarch of the pod after all… And she has a lot of influence and support. If I can explain to her without the others knowing, we might have a chance. She doesn’t know that they tried to kill me. If she did… She would look upon it all differently. And she can change their minds.”  
“But only if we can make her see that she’s gotten the wrong side of the story…” Yao pondered.  
“How would we do that?” Kiku asked.  
Herakles’s eyes lit up with an idea.  
“We write a letter to her.” The merman declared.  
“You can write?” Yao checked.  
“Of course.” Herakles replied. “Of course, we would need paper that can survive the sea…”

And so Yao went in search of more durable stationary, and Kiku and Herakles remained behind to talk.  
“What is a matriarch? I keep hearing that term used…” Kiku wondered.  
“The matriarch is like the leader of the pod… She tends to be the strongest and the wisest of the mermaids. She advises younger merpeople on how to live their lives.” Herakles detailed.  
“Is it always a woman?” Kiku asked.  
“Nearly always… Mermen tend to move between pods quite a lot. Mermaids stay in the same pod almost all of their lives usually. So it’s not usual for a merman to stay in the same pod long enough to have the kind of experience one would need to become the leader.” Herakles assumed.  
“I see.” Kiku nodded. “And that leader is your mother at the moment.”  
“That’s right.” Herakles smiled. “She’ll know what to do. I’m sure mama will come up with something.”  
When Yao returned with paper and some waterproof ink and Herakles got around to writing his letter, the mood in the household was one of cautious optimism.

Helene was frantic as she looked around for Herakles. He had been missing before she had gone, and now she had returned, there was still no sign of him. Loukas returned from checking his brother’s nap spots as Helene rounded the coral that was their usual home.  
“There’s no sign of him mama.” He reported. “It’s so odd…”  
“Up there.” Helene motioned, pointing to the part of the coral where Herakles and Sadik had been imprisoned. “I found wooden bars, like a cage. It’s enough to make me wonder what’s been happening around here.”  
“Matriarch!” Called a blonde mermaid behind Helene. “Matriarch, Herakles was…!”  
“What happened?” Helene hissed, rounding on the younger mermaid.  
“He was kidnapped by a human! We tried to help him, but he was carried off and onto the shore before we could do a thing!” The mermaid lied.  
“Seriously?” Loukas panicked. “Why?”  
“Isn’t it obvious? They’re trying to get to us. Like, in our heads and stuff.” The mermaid continued.  
“And that bastard Sadik betrayed us! He actually helped them! So we turfed him out of our territory.” A brunette mermaid added.  
“Is that really true?” Helene asked, getting more riled up by the second. Before anyone could confirm their version of events, a letter sank to the seabed beside them, tied down to an old fishing weight.

‘Mama. I am unharmed, so please don’t worry about me. I have to talk to you about everything. By the beach there is a sea cave. Loukas will remember that I was trapped in there before. Please meet me there tomorrow. Loukas can come with you as well, but do not bring weapons, or any other merpeople along. See you soon. –Herakles’

“It’s a ransom note!” The brunette mermaid cried.  
“That cave… The humans had him locked up there before too.” Loukas remembered.  
“It was probably the same humans… Herakles should have killed them when he had the chance.” Helene frowned. “We should go and rescue him at once.”  
“No! If you go now, the humans might not be there!” The blonde mermaid argued. “We should wait until tomorrow. The two of you can easily take on some stupid humans, even if you are unarmed. So draw out the humans and then kill them!”   
“That sounds like a plan.” Helene agreed.

In such a way, the stage was set.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiku, Herakles, and Yao meet with Helene and Loukas in the cave by the sea. But with both mother and son believing Herakles to be in immediate danger, and with the unarmed humans striving for peace, the situation was always going to be dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's kinda got some action close to the beginning, then nothing but conversation for the rest of the chapter. We're getting to that point close to the end where the plot starts to pull together, the loose ends begin to tie up and the characters previously in the dark come into the know about everything.
> 
> This chapter is quite a bit later than I planned, but I've had some serious internet problems this week which really slowed everything down.

Yao paced the cave as they waited for Helene’s arrival. If she agreed to meet them with only Loukas as an escort, just as they had upheld their pledge that only Yao would be protecting Kiku in return, things would work out okay. If not… It wasn’t something Yao wanted to think about in that moment.

Kiku sat beside Herakles at the water’s edge, waiting in apprehension of the meeting that was about to occur. Herakles seemed to be the calmest person in the area, and Yao was a little annoyed by his demeanour.   
“Aren’t you worried at all?” He asked the merman, raising an eyebrow.  
“But we’re going to be talking to mama.” Herakles pointed out. “She’ll understand when we tell her.”  
“If she waits long enough to listen before just attacking us.” Yao argued.  
“I won’t let that happen.” Herakles promised. “I’ll make sure to keep you safe.”  
Yao paused for a few seconds, considering that offer.

As he stood there, there was a commotion under the water at the edge of the cave.  
“Mama!” Herakles called towards the entrance of the cave. Seconds later, Helene surfaced, Loukas close behind. Just the two of them. But that was enough. Helene ignored her oldest son swimming to greet her, instead powering towards Kiku, grabbing the human by the throat before anyone could react.  
“They were right… Just another human scheme.” She growled, her grip tightening.   
“No… Not true…” Kiku grasped, struggling to get free as he was dragged towards the water.  
“Let him go! We came to talk peace!” Yao screamed, lamenting the fact that he was unarmed. Herakles had promised that they would be safe!  
“No peace… Not while you continue to mislead by kind and hold my son captive!” The matriarch snarled, one hand moving away from Kiku’s neck to hover above her head, claws out and ready to strike the human down.  
“Mama, no!” Herakles shouted, still trying to reach her. Loukas turned, saw the fear in his brother’s eyes, and reached a hand out to his mother, finally understanding.

It was too late, as a strike and a kick sent Kiku flying across the cave.

For a terrifying moment, everything was still and nobody moved. The heartbeat passed. Then the screams began. Yao looked towards Herakles, neither knowing the other could yell so loud. Loukas made it the few metres needed to restrain Helene. Kiku laid face down in the sand, blood staining the dusky yellow red.

“You said that we were safe!” Yao bellowed at Herakles, feeling betrayed and unsure of what to do. He needed to get help… But he couldn’t leave Kiku. “You promised!”  
“I know!” Herakles cried back. He couldn’t get his head around it, couldn’t understand how his mother could do such a thing…  
“Herakles, what’s going on?” Loukas asked, face grave.  
Helene had stopped struggling against him, and turned to look at her oldest son.  
“I thought you had been kidnapped…” She offered by way of explanation. “I believed that you wrote that letter under duress.”  
“No! It was all my idea. I wrote that letter because I wanted to talk to you without the rest of the pod around!” Herakles argued.  
“You weren’t kidnapped?” Helene realised.  
“I was banished mama.” Herakles sighed. “Kiku and his family took me in.”  
“Why?” Helene asked. “When did that happen?”  
“It can’t have been before we left.” Loukas argued.  
“It’s a long story.” Herakles stated.  
“Tell us.” Helene insisted. “Herakles… What happened to you?”

“Wait.” Herakles demanded, swimming to where Kiku laid on the sand. Together, Yao and Herakles turned the human onto his side. A large gash spread across his right cheek, along his chin and down onto his neck. Sand stuck to the edges of the wound, yet it continued to bleed profusely. Kiku’s left arm also bent backwards at a bizarre angle. Herakles knew he couldn’t bend like that, and hoped humans were different from merpeople in that regard. The look on Yao’s face told him otherwise.

Yao pulled off his shirt and pressed it against the wound at Kiku’s neck, moving to cradle his brother’s head in his lap.  
“He seems to only be knocked out.” He evaluated. “But we should keep an eye on him anyway.”  
“That’s good.” Herakles breathed.  
Helene settled onto the sand with Loukas beside her and turned to face her son.  
“How did it come to this?” She asked.

“It started when I got beached that one time.” Herakles started. “Kiku was the one who rescued me. He could have killed me, but he took me to this cave and looked after me until I was able to return to you…”  
“I thought you had been taken by humans then too.” Helene pointed out.  
“I tried to explain to you both… But Loukas was convinced it was a trap. I trusted Kiku though. I saw him as a friend. So I continued to return to the beach after that to talk to him.” Herakles continued.  
“That explains why Kiku kept going down to the beach.” Yao sighed. “And out. In general. You know, he always used to stay home all the time before.”  
“I thought you were sleeping.” Loukas mused.  
“We continued to meet for quite a while after that.” Herakles detailed. “But then Sadik found us. I was worried about other merpeople also finding Kiku, and it was after that… I supposed I realised we were falling in love.”  
“What?” Loukas spluttered.  
“Seriously?” Helene asked.  
“Which is why Kiku started acting strange.” Yao summed up. “I knew that he was in love with someone, but I never imagined this.”

“Herakles…” Helene sighed. “I’m sorry.”  
“Mama?” Herakles questioned.  
“I said before that I would always talk to you about how you felt…” She elaborated. “But here I am, attacking your mate. And making you feel like you had to do all this on your own.”  
“It must have been hard.” Loukas empathised.  
“It’s okay.” Herakles smiled. “We sorted everything out. About how we felt, and what we were going to do. Sadik actually helped with that. And he suggested that we start to meet at the beach a while down the coast from here…”  
“Which is why you both disappeared from sunrise to sunset, I assume.” Yao guessed.  
“Right.” Herakles nodded. “Over time, I came to wonder why it is that humans and merpeople fight. We thought… Kiku and I… Like such things were senseless. It made me feel like trying to find a way to stop the fighting for good. That… Weakened my resolve. I suppose I became rather useless to you and to the pod.”  
“Just because you don’t want to kill people doesn’t make you useless.” Helene defended.  
“The other pod members seemed to think so though.” Herakles fumed. “They followed me and learned of where I met Kiku. And they beat up both me and Sadik and locked us up in the coral just before you left to go hunting. Then when Kiku arrived to meet me the next day they tried to kill him. They thought it would ‘bring me to my senses’.” The merman seemed to deflate. “Sadik helped us escape, and I don’t know what happened to him. But Kiku’s family took me in. It wasn’t safe to go back. And so I had to send you the letter. You wouldn’t have been able to hear the story otherwise.”

“Don’t worry about Sadik.” Loukas tried to reassure. “The other pod members said they chased him from our territory. That means he’s alive. We can call him back later.”  
“I wasn’t worried.” Herakles shot back.  
“But still…” Helene’s face turned grave and she hissed. “To think the others would do something like this behind my back… And without even trying to understand what you have to say!”  
“It’s not acceptable.” Loukas agreed. “But still… What do we do now?”  
“I want… For this to end. I want to stop having to fight.” Herakles insisted.  
“Oh, this will end.” Helene pledged. “I’ll end this right away.”

Kiku began to wake up as Herakles finished speaking. He became aware of the pain before anything else. The right side of his face stung harshly, and his arm felt like it was on fire. As the human groaned weakly, both Herakles and Yao rushed to try to comfort him.  
“Kiku, you’re okay.” Herakles smiled. “I was worried.”  
“What happened?” Kiku shook his head, trying to figure out how he came to be lying on the sand. He tried to get up, but Yao held him down.  
“That one attacked you.” Yao accused, pointing towards Helene.   
“It was a mistake.” She apologised. “I was only concerned about my son. You would do the same, human.”  
“He would.” Kiku considered. “Don’t deny it.” He added, when Yao opened his mouth to respond.  
“Nice to meet you, Herakles’s mate.” Loukas greeted, waving to Kiku. “Sorry for mama clawing your face up.”  
“Um…” Yao finally let Kiku ease himself into a sitting position, as he looked between Helene and Loukas, unsure as to how to address the merpeople. This was Herakles’s family after all, even if they had attacked him… “It is nice to meet you too.” He settled, trying to bow his head but wincing and holding his neck at the stinging that resulted.

Helene seemed to come to a decision as Yao continued to fuss over Kiku.   
“Human, I will be ending this now. The rogue members of my community that value war above all else… I will see to it that they are brought in line. But I expect to see the same from you. Watching you today tells me that you are just like us; continuing this war through mistrust and the zealous actions of an isolated few. I extend to you the chance to end the fighting, just as you wish. Do not waste it.” She turned around and threw herself back into the water.  
“I’ll find Sadik.” Loukas decided. “I hope you can sort this out. Herakles, you’re welcome back whenever you like.” He smiled slightly before following his mother and exciting the cave.  
“Kiku… I’m going to go and get help. Please stay here, and try not to move too much.” Yao fretted, leaping to his feet. “I won’t be long.” He called back as he ran from the cave’s land entrance.

Herakles pulled himself up onto the sand to allow Kiku to lean on his shoulder. For a moment, there was silence, as Kiku stayed still to avoid aggravating his injuries and Herakles wondered internally as to what else he could do to help. Seconds later however, the quiet was shattered by the sound of approaching footsteps echoing across the sand.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Helene tries to resume order among the merpeople, Kiku has a reunion with certain friends- which ends up creating its own problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like there's a lot of talking in this chapter despite the action that happens for some reason. What's more, this is probably the last chapter to have an actual fight scene in it. At least things are finally getting resolved.

“Kiku!” Feliciano yelled, breaking into the cave. “There you are! What happened to you…?” His eyes widened upon seeing Herakles.  
“Feliciano…” Kiku looked up at his friend, surprised that he was even there.  
“Kiku, I heard around town that you hadn’t been seen in days and so I came out here looking and then I saw Yao coming out of this cave so I thought you were in here but look at your arm!” Feliciano gestured to his friend’s injuries. “And now I find you’re here with a merman!”  
“I didn’t hurt him.” Herakles chipped in, not wanting the new human to get the wrong idea.  
“Kiku, what’s going on?” Feli asked as Ludwig walked into the cave.  
“Feliciano, I see you found Kiku… Wait, who is this?” The tall man folded his arms and stared down at Herakles.  
“He’s a merman and he didn’t hurt Kiku.” Feliciano filled in.  
“That doesn’t tell me anything!” Ludwig argued.  
“Well… He happens to be my boyfriend.” Kiku admitted.

“What?” Ludwig’s tone was flat and Kiku was unsure as to whether his friend understood what he’d heard.  
“I knew it.” Feliciano clapped his hands together.  
“What?!” Ludwig looked to Feliciano as if he was mad.  
“I knew Kiku had a secret lover, I told you before! And with how much he’s been focused on the sea lately… I knew it had to be something like this!” Feliciano explained.  
“Why didn’t either of you say anything earlier?” Ludwig fumed.  
“How could I? The town’s at war with merpeople! Your father’s the mayor! Even confronting Kiku about it was risky, I mean what if someone overheard?” The brunette friend put his hands on his hips and pouted.  
“I suppose that is true…” Ludwig accepted.  
“I didn’t even tell my family.” Kiku stated. “I’m sorry.”  
“No, we understand!” Feliciano cried, jumping at Kiku and hugging him tightly. “I’m just happy we know now Kiku!”  
“Feliciano… You’re hurting me…”Kiku hissed. His friend jumped back to find blood had dripped onto his shirt from where the makeshift bandage on Kiku’s face had fallen away.  
“Ah! Your face is falling off!” Feliciano panicked.  
“Is it that bad?” Kiku asked, worried.  
“No.” Ludwig reassured him. “It’s a deep gash, but I would hardly say anything is ‘falling off’.”  
“I’m… Going to try to find something.” Herakles stated, turning towards the sea. “I’ll be back soon.” He promised before he swum away.

“Kiku… What are we going to do?” Ludwig asked after Herakles had left, as Feliciano supported Kiku loosely, making sure not to affect his wounds again. “I mean… Feliciano is right. There is a war on.”  
“This morning, Yao and I were talking to the leader of the merpeople.” Kiku explained. “She told us that she’s willing to end this fighting. But she wanted us to stop trying to kill them first.”  
“How do we organise something like that?” Feliciano worried.  
“We could always close off the beaches for a few days so that nobody is harmed even if they don’t comply.” Ludwig considered. “But to truly stop all of this… We’d need to enact new rules within the town. Getting those through could be difficult.”  
“Are you sure this is going to work, Kiku?” Feliciano checked.  
“I was promised that the more bloodthirsty merpeople would be brought into line.” Kiku pledged. “Herakles’s mother promised me.”  
“Do you believe her?” Ludwig asked.  
“Of course.” Kiku nodded.

When Helene returned to the pod there was general confusion at the fact that Herakles and Loukas were not with her.   
“Matriarch! What happened?” A merman at the front of the gathered group asked. She ignored him, rounding on the blonde mermaid who had lied to her about Herakles’s ‘kidnapping’.   
“You.” She seethed. “What have you done?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The younger mermaid replied, feigning innocence.  
“My son was never kidnapped.” Helene stated. “You locked him away, and then chased him out. Did you think I was not suspicious about the fencing you erected up in the coral?”  
“Are you serious? Don’t tell me they got to you too.” The mermaid sneered. “We didn’t do anything out of hatred. We were trying to save Herakles from the clutches of that human.”  
“He doesn’t need saving.” Helene argued.   
“That human is deceiving him!” The blonde shouted. “He’s blinded you both.”  
“Can you honestly not see love when it’s right in front of you?” Helene shook her head. “That boy means Herakles absolutely no harm, that much is clear. I met with him and he was completely the opposite of a violent kidnapper. He promised to help bring an end to the attacks on our kind. And I want to believe him.”  
“You can’t be serious.” The mermaid huffed. “And I suppose you’re going to suggest that we enact a ceasefire until we can determine whether he was lying?”  
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Helene confirmed. “We have nothing to lose in any case.”  
“You must be getting old Matriarch.” The blonde spat. “You’ve gone soft.”  
“Or maybe you’re just bloodthirsty.” Helene accused.

“I can’t believe it’s come to this.” The mermaid seethed. “But I have no choice. You’re crazy Helene, and you’re going down.”  
“Try me.” Helene warned, orienting her body so as to look as intimidating as possible. The other gathered merpeople looked meekly down at the sand. The blonde mermaid was not so easily deterred, and tackled Helene with full force.

The rest of the gathered pod members gave the tussling pair a wide berth; one of the group’s rules forbade getting involved with hierarchy based fights. Helene responded to the challenge with a sharp blow to the younger mermaid’s shoulder with her tail that was followed by a raking claw at her other arm. The mermaid roared in anger and lunged for Helene’s neck, trying to strangle her. The matriarch rolled the younger challenger into the rocks on the seabed, breaking the hold on her and tearing up the fins of the youth. A bite sunk into her shoulder in reply, and Helene hissed, swinging around and scratching down the mermaid’s face and neck before shoving her harshly back into the rocks. 

Helene pulled back just slightly, surveying the damage to the other mermaid and fully expecting her to give up. Her once beautiful fins were gnarled and torn, her blonde hair matted with blood. A large bruise bloomed over her shoulder. The mermaid struggled to push herself up off the rocks, and she looked in no fit state to fight. Despite this, she launched forwards again, raining blows down on the older mermaid with her bare hands, striking hard enough to create a mosaic of bruises. Helene grabbed the mermaid’s hands and twisted them around and behind her back before slamming her back into the seafloor. Her opponent was briefly knocked unconscious by the move.

Helene stopped to breathe as she surveyed the damage. She was bruised and battered, but she had clearly come out on top. When the mermaid regained consciousness, she thought better of trying to challenge Helene again. Flicking her tail in annoyance, she took off towards the coral, a few of her closest followers joining her. Helene watched them go; knowing that she probably wouldn’t see them again. After a defeat like that, most challengers to the leadership of the pod fled in disgrace, occasionally taking others with them to form a new group entirely. Helene delivered a warning glare to the other gathered merpeople, who looked around among themselves, nobody else able to work up the guts to make a challenge.  
“Any more objections?” Helene checked, her authority clear.  
She was met with silence.

Herakles returned to Kiku’s side, hands full of gathered seaweed and other items. He smiled reassuringly at his boyfriend before shifting over to pull Kiku towards him.  
“I brought something.” He explained to the humans. “This will help.”  
“How does seaweed help?” Ludwig asked. “You aren’t seriously considering making bandages out of that?”  
“Won’t it do until we can get to a hospital or something?” Feliciano asked.  
“But the salt…” Ludwig sighed.   
“It is the best we have.” Kiku accepted.   
“Okay…” Herakles slowly pulled the rest of the bloodstained shirt away and applied the seaweed over Kiku’s face and neck carefully, tying the strands together wherever he could. Kiku closed his eyes and tried not to react too much to the stinging of the salt in his wounds. Herakles allowed the human to lean on his shoulder as he built up his makeshift bandage, kissing the uninjured side of his face once he was done.

“How are you feeling?” The merman worried.  
“It’s… Manageable.” Kiku declared. “This shall do for now at least.”  
“That’s good.” Herakles relaxed. “After all, I can’t stitch you up. So this is all I can do. The salt stings, but it should also prevent the wound getting infected.”  
“You look a lot better!” Feliciano cheered. “But what about your arm…?”  
“Should we brace it?” Herakles considered.  
“With your arm bent around like that?” Ludwig scoffed. “I wouldn’t touch your arm if I was you.”   
“But if we don’t want it to move, shouldn’t we tie it as it is?” Feliciano asked.  
“That requires a sling.” Ludwig stated.  
“We could make one.” Herakles pondered.   
“Oh! I know!” Feliciano jumped up, taking his shirt off. “We can fold my shirt into a sling!”  
“Feliciano! There isn’t a need to take your clothes off in public…” Kiku fretted.  
“Kiku thinks that being naked around people is like sex.” Herakles stated. Kiku felt as though he could sink into the ground at that very moment. Ludwig turned rather red as he stared at Herakles.   
“But Kiku, this is an emergency!” Feliciano protested.  
“I… Uh. I suppose.” Kiku relented. Feliciano knelt down next to Kiku and tried to fashion his shirt into a sling. He had some trouble with the task, which led to Herakles trying to help him. Kiku leant against Herakles more heavily as the two put the dressing into place.

“Are you okay?” Herakles asked, supporting his injured boyfriend.  
“I just feel tired.” Kiku sighed. “It is nothing serious.”  
“It has been a long day.” Herakles accepted. “Do you want to rest?”  
“Not yet.” Kiku shook his head. “I can sleep tonight.”  
“I’m going to take a look outside.” Ludwig interrupted. “Yao went to get help. It cannot be far away now.”  
“Good luck Ludwig!” Feliciano called as the taller man left the cave.

Seconds later, he was brought back by the arrival of Yao and other members of the town. His reappearance made it clear that the merman had to disappear.  
“I’ll see you soon.” Herakles promised, kissing Kiku briefly. “Everything will be okay, don’t worry.” He smiled reassuringly as he swam off to hide. Feliciano grabbed Kiku to stop him falling, the human becoming increasingly unstable as exhaustion set in.

“Kiku, are you okay?!” Yao shouted, running back to Kiku’s side and shifting him into his arms. “Your wounds were bandaged…”  
“Herakles did it.” Kiku explained.  
“That’s good.” Yao breathed. “The doctors came down here to get you. Things are going to be okay now.”  
Kiku nodded wordlessly, too tired to pay much attention anymore. As various officials and medical personnel from the town fussed over him, Alaric entered the scene, walking over to Ludwig with a stern face.  
“Was it a mermaid attack?” He asked. “Yao never said anything…”  
“I…” Ludwig swallowed. He couldn’t lie. “Yes.”  
Alaric nodded. “They need to pay for this.”  
The young man turned sharply to regard his elder. “Father…”  
“It’s personal now.” Alaric stated, his voice even. “I want to end this Ludwig. Before your generation has to suffer any more. You must understand.”

As Ludwig watched Kiku get dragged away by the gathered officials, he was unable to agree. After everything he had learned that day, the man had no stomach for revenge. As he caught sight of Herakles, hiding in the shadows with a pained expression, he felt nothing but guilt and regret.

He should have said nothing.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kiku recovers, a final struggle for peace begins. Herakles waits for news, and returns to an old place and an old habit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the second to last chapter, and the last one with any drama in it. The one after this is going to be tying up loose ends and such.  
> Hopefully Alaric doesn't come off as too much of a jerk. He's essentially so stern and law abiding that it starts to become a problem in this chapter, but still...

Herakles was completely restless as he swam constantly between his coral home and the shoreline. Helene stopped him when he was on his fifth return trip and tried to calm him down.  
“It’s going to be okay.” She reassured him. “Kiku is with the human doctors now. They will take care of him.”  
“But there’s been no word.” Herakles fretted. “Anything could have happened, and I wouldn’t know.”  
“News will come soon.” Helene promised. “Swimming around wildly won’t make it come sooner.”  
“I want to be there as soon as word gets through.” Herakles explained. “But I don’t want to hang around the shore for too long. And I wanted to check up on the pod as well.”  
“Don’t worry about that.” Helene insisted. “You should wait in that seaside cave or something. You don’t need to keep checking in with us here. I won’t let anything else happen on our end, so you should feel free to focus on the land for now.”  
“Alright. I’ll come back when I know more.” Herakles accepted, making his way back towards the shore yet again.

Kiku awoke in the enforced sterility of a hospital room. Yao and Feliciano looked over at him worriedly, and Kiku eased himself into a sitting position with some difficulty. His arm was set in plaster, the gash in his face had been stitched up and covered over with gauze, and he was generally in less pain than he had been in before. His first thoughts were of Herakles. He hoped that the merman was okay.  
“Kiku!” Yao greeted, perking up upon seeing his brother awake. “How are you feeling?”  
“I feel okay now.” Kiku insisted. “What happened to Herakles?”  
“Don’t worry!” Feliciano calmed his friend. “He hid up from the crowd of people, and nobody saw him. I think he’s waiting for news to come through down at the beach.”  
“We need to go then.” Kiku decided, trying to get up. “He needs to know that everything is okay.”  
“You’re not going anywhere.” Yao told him, pushing him back onto the bed. “You have to rest. Feliciano will go and tell your boyfriend that you’re fine.”  
“Yeah! I’ll take care of it Kiku, don’t worry!” Feliciano chirped, getting up from the chair he’d been sitting in. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He gave a reassuring smile to Kiku before leaving the room.

“By the way, where is Ludwig?” Kiku asked.   
“Well…” Yao began. “Some things happened while you were asleep. The local population found out that you were attacked by a mermaid and Alaric has decided it’s in his personal interest to deal with the situation now. So he’s trying to pass an edict to sanction the use of extreme force to exterminate the merpeople any way possible. Ludwig’s trying to change his mind.”  
“But that…” Kiku shook his head, horrified. “Would he really do something like that?”  
“Alaric was worried about you too you know.” Yao pointed out. “He’s definitely taken the whole thing personally.”  
“You have to go and help Ludwig convince him.” Kiku pleaded. “Even if I have to drag myself to the town hall to argue with him too. We cannot allow this to happen!”  
“Alright.” Yao nodded. “I’ll do what I can. Try to get some rest Kiku. I’ll be back to fill you in.” He got up and moved towards the door, leaving Kiku lying against the bed, deflated.

Herakles sat on the same rock he had used to meet Kiku for weeks and stared pensively around at the surrounding sand, tail dipping into the water. Feliciano noticed him from some distance away, recognising the sight of the merman by now, and skipped over the rocks to meet him.  
“You’re Kiku’s boyfriend, right?” He tested, leaning in closer.  
“Herakles.” The merman nodded.  
“Oh, good.” Feliciano hopped onto the rock next to Herakles and sat down. “Kiku wanted me to talk to you.”  
“He’s okay?” Herakles assumed hopefully.  
“Yep! The doctors want to keep him in the hospital for a while though.” Feliciano detailed. “And Ludwig’s trying to get the rest of the town to accept a ceasefire. It’s a tough job, but Ludwig can do anything, so I’m sure it’ll work out.” The teenager smiled cheerfully at the merman.  
“Are the other people in the town really that suspicious of us?” Herakles asked. “I suppose after spending time with Kiku for so long, I almost expected humans to be rather passive…”  
“Well, Ludwig’s dad took what happened kinda personally, so he’s actually our largest obstacle.” Feliciano sighed. “But that’s exactly why Ludwig’s our best chance! I mean he can obviously persuade his own dad, right?”  
Herakles thought of how he’d communicated with his mother just a day earlier and found he could only agree.  
“If merpeople and humans are as similar as I think we are… We shouldn’t have any problems then.” Herakles summed up.  
“Yeah.” Feliciano smiled.

“Hmm… I should probably tell my mama that everything’s okay. But also… Now that things are calming down, a nap sounds good…” Herakles considered, feeling relieved now that he knew Kiku was going to be alright.   
“A siesta around this time of day sounds really nice!” Feliciano agreed. “Ah! But I really should go and see how Ludwig is doing. I can rest later!” He began to stand up as he spoke.  
“Okay then. If anything happens, come and tell me… I’ll probably be basking right here.” Herakles yawned.  
“Gotcha! Okay Herakles, nice talking to you!” Feliciano waved and grinned as he took off back towards the town, leaving a relaxed and drowsy Herakles behind him.

“Father, listen to me. This isn’t what Kiku would want, not by any margin!” Ludwig argued, following Alaric around their house. The older man didn’t look set on budging.  
“Kiku can be pacifist all he likes… It is the job of my generation to protect yours. Even if we must do things you wouldn’t agree with.” Alaric replied sternly.  
“This isn’t about pacifism! If we carry on fighting them, they will attack us in kind. And then this will never end!” Ludwig sighed. “Surely you see the futility?”  
“Which is why I want to end this once and for all.” Alaric asserted. “By destroying their home, and killing every last one of those creatures that I can find.”  
“But…!” Ludwig struggled to find a response that didn’t involve admitting the whole truth. After a few seconds, he reasoned there was no other choice. “You don’t know the full story.”  
“Really?” Alaric turned to his son. “And what would that be?”  
Ludwig took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke. “Kiku fell in love with a merman he met down on the beach and nursed to health. They had a covert relationship for several weeks before angry mermaids kidnapped Kiku and his boyfriend was exiled freeing him. He brought him back to his house where they devised a plan to meet Kiku’s boyfriend’s mother- who happens to lead the group of merpeople living in our area- and explain the situation. She got the wrong idea and attacked him but she’s now realised the error of her ways and pledged to root out the bloodthirsty and sadistic merpeople and attempt to hold down a lasting peace. We can’t attack them when they’re trying to reform.” Ludwig looked towards his father as he finished. It was a good thing Yao had filled him in on the details; there was a small enough chance of him being believed as it was without his story lacking substance.

Alaric took a few steps away from Ludwig as he processed all he had been told and the younger man feared an angry tirade in response. Instead, Alaric threw his head back and laughed for almost a minute before stopping abruptly and turning back to his son.  
“Ludwig… That has got to be the biggest load of crap that ever left your mouth.” He assessed.  
“It’s the truth.” Ludwig tried futilely.  
“Honestly? You expect me to believe a story like that?” Alaric sighed. “Don’t be stupid Ludwig.” He turned and opened the door to the house, stepping through.  
“The idea of peace is a mere illusion.” He dismissed as he slammed the door.

“An illusion?” Yao echoed, standing feet away. “You’re blinded by hatred and guilt Alaric.”  
“And you?” The mayor shot back. “What has even gotten into your head? Don’t tell me you believe these children?”  
“They aren’t children anymore.” Yao argued. “They’re able to make their own choices. Don’t treat them like they know nothing.”  
“They do know nothing.” Alaric grunted. “They dare try to throw away the sacrifice of past generations?”  
“For peace? I’d throw that away any day.” Yao scoffed. “I was there Alaric. I heard the promises made. This is real.”  
“Your father didn’t give his life for you to grow into such a man.” Alaric accused.  
“My father…” Yao seethed. “Was a fool. A fool who let his hatred and desire to continue this pointless struggle consume all else. A fool who tried to turn his unwitting eldest sons into heartless killers. A fool who got what was coming to him. It’s fitting that we be the ones to end this.” He stared the larger man down, unwilling to cede his position. 

“Alaric, please listen to them!” Feliciano cried, racing into the street. “Everyone’s telling the truth. I was really scared of merpeople until yesterday, but Herakles is a really nice guy, and he cares about Kiku a lot, and I knew something was going on but Kiku couldn’t tell us because of this stupid feud and that’s why he got hurt!” The young man took a wheezing breath. “Please. I don’t want to keep fighting like this! Please end it. You can do that.” He turned his best puppy-eyed look on the man. “Please.”  
Alaric seemed taken aback by the protestations of the two men. Ludwig could be spouting nonsense. Yao could have gone soft. But three different people… More worryingly, Feliciano was actually making sense, and that was always a recipe for trouble.  
“You say this Herakles is a ‘nice guy’?” He began, walking up to Feliciano with long strides. “So you’ve met him?”  
“Yeah, just today!” Feliciano answered. “Kiku asked me to fill him in, so I met him at the beach.”  
“Do you know where he is now?” Alaric requested.  
“Actually…” 

The sun was beginning to set as Herakles awoke from his nap. He hadn’t been roused from his sleep at any point, so assumed there was nothing further for the humans to report. He was about to get up from his splayed out position on the rock, in order to return to his mother, when he became aware of voices reaching his ears from over the sand. He stayed where he was for a few more seconds as he listened to the sounds.   
“That is the merman you speak of?” Alaric clarified, reaching the edge of the pathway of rocks leading over to Herakles.  
“Yeah! Just go speak to him, he’ll back up everything we said!” Feliciano replied happily.  
“Very well.” Alaric decided, picking his way over the rocks with sure steps. Herakles began easing himself into a sitting position, ready to greet whoever was coming to speak to him.

He wasn’t expecting a dagger at his neck.  
“So you’re the one leading Kiku and the others astray?” Alaric guessed, staring Herakles down coldly.   
“I… Never lead anyone astray.” Herakles replied sincerely. He hoped the human would understand.  
“I’m not sure I believe you.” Alaric spoke honestly.  
“Fine. …Are you going to kill me now? If you have to… Then do it. But… You’d have to explain why to Kiku later.” Herakles summarised.   
Alaric stared at the merman. He didn’t trust him. He’d taken the knife out in an attempt to extort the truth from him. He could hear Yao and Feliciano shouting at him from the beach, begging him not to kill Herakles. Feliciano began running over the rocks, tripping and falling as he went, his knees becoming bloodied. Ludwig made his way down to the scene, watching on in horror. Alaric stared into Herakles’s eyes, trying to read his emotions.  
“Are you going to kill me?” Herakles repeated, face resigned.   
“I cannot.” Alaric sighed, moving the knife away.

He took a step back, throwing the knife down to the rocks. “I cannot kill you.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humans and merpeople take steps to get to know each other. An old friend returns, and everything is good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After so long, this is finally the last chapter!
> 
> It feels like such a long time since I started writing this- three years overall of working on this story, and one year of publishing. It took me two of those years to get to chapter 14, so I feel like i've definitely sped up in terms of writing, and I feel like my style's evolved through the course of this story too.
> 
> As for this chapter, it's more of an epilogue than a final chapter. I went over everyone and how they ended up, and I hope I tied up the loose ends well enough for everyone. All in all though, it's been fun, and I'm glad I made it this far!

The light of the midday sun filtered down onto the sand of the town’s beach. The mermaids that remained within Helene’s unit ventured out onto the beach, unsure how the humans would react. Rather than fearing attack by townspeople or hidden traps, the merpeople were cautiously hopeful that the space of the beach could now be shared ground between the land and the sea. The humans, for their part, shied away from the new visitors, gathering at the higher reaches of the sand. While there was no open hostility remaining, suspicions were clearly still present.

Gradually, children who had been largely unaware of the tension stepped forwards, natural curiosity leading them to approach the new arrivals on the beach. As they asked countless questions and investigated the arrival of the merpeople closely, the ice that held the adults at a distance was broken.

By the time Kiku arrived at the coast, conversations were breaking out, and children were playing in the sea and trying to swim with some of the friendlier merpeople. Kiku found Herakles basking lazily in a corner of the beach and hurried over to meet him. Herakles smiled as he saw Kiku, and straightened up as the human drew close.  
“Kiku!” He greeted. “I’m glad you’re alright… But your arm.” He frowned, pawing at the cast Kiku still wore.  
“It is just a cover while it heals.” Kiku assured him. “Please try not to worry too much.”  
“Does it hurt?” Herakles asked, face grave.  
“Not anymore.” Kiku assured him.  
“That’s good.” Herakles relaxed. “And things here… Have really calmed down. We’re safe now.”   
“We are.” Kiku confirmed.  
“Now we can be out together without anyone caring. It makes me happy.” Herakles pointed out, leaning in and embracing Kiku.  
“Um…” Kiku stalled, a little unsure about showing such affection in public.

“Heh. Get a room, lovebirds.” A snarky voice came from behind and Kiku turned towards the sea to see Sadik making his way onto the beach, Loukas following behind him. Sadik looked well, despite the scars that still clung to his body and fins. The majority of his wounds had healed, and he appeared to have a newly made mask that seemed more like something that a human craftsman would have made, rather than a merman. He was also wearing a strange looking pendant that was hung around his neck on a string. Overall, it looked like he had been taking care of himself, and had been safe despite being exiled.

“I’m glad I finally found him.” Loukas commented. “And that things here seem to have settled down. Looks like it all worked out.”  
“I’ll say.” Sadik added. “I never would have thought that the people here would become so… Well, maybe ‘accepting’ is pushin’ it a little. But passive towards us? Yeah, that’s an improvement.”  
“The people here?” Herakles inquired, catching on Sadik’s choice of words.  
“Yeah. Not everyone’s so crazy about merpeople. Where I ended up, the townspeople literally didn’t care about me at all. If they saw me around they were like ‘oh, a merman’, but they didn’t really think about it much more than that.” Sadik explained. “In fact, a few people were kinda happy to see me. Maybe they thought I’d deter sharks or somethin’.”  
“I’m glad you were alright out there.” Kiku told the merman.  
“Yeah, you look like you had fun in this other town.” Herakles scoffed.  
“Well, maybe it’s the people ya meet that determine whether ya like a place.” Sadik shrugged. “And I can’t lie Hera- I think I can say for the first time that I understand how ya feel.”  
“Wait… What?” Herakles stared at his rival.  
“Ya’ll see what I mean soon enough. I’ll probably ask him to come meet ya all anyway.” Sadik hinted.

“Oh! I know! Do you have a secret boyfriend too?” Feliciano chipped in, settling down onto the sand.  
“Feliciano, don’t pry into people’s lives like that.” Ludwig scolded, walking up alongside his friend.  
“But he doesn’t mind!” Feliciano argued, turning to Sadik. “Right?”  
“Nah, I don’t care.” Sadik brushed it off.  
“You still shouldn’t assume things about people.” Kiku added.  
“I’m glad to see you up and about Kiku!” Feliciano changed the subject.  
“I… Yes.” Kiku found himself unable to come up with a proper response.  
“Anyway, it’s so nice to see everyone.” Feliciano expressed. “And now we can all be out in public together! We can hang out on the beach, and be friends, and eat together…”  
“That does sound good.” Ludwig agreed.  
“I’ll be looking forwards to it.” Kiku joined in.  
“I don’t mind… Coming down to nap with people here. I want to get to know Kiku’s friends too.” Herakles yawned.  
“Yeah, well. I kinda like the look of all of ya. So I’ll probably be around.” Sadik accepted.  
“Looks like it all worked out.” Loukas repeated to himself.

Yao watched Kiku from the head of the beach, relaxing back against one of the trees. Mei and Li were back to playing in the water, no longer afraid of coming under attack. If anything, the merpeople seemed perplexed by the ball game (even if they were wary of the net). Yong Soo was engaging in cheerful conversation with some merpeople at the water’s edge. Kasem was teaching a group of children and merlings how to place hooks onto a fishing line, with Hue helping out a little. Kyung Soo didn’t care so much about the merpeople on the beach, but he did seem rather more relaxed as he read quietly in the shade.  
For the first time in a long time, he knew where all of the members of his family were. He knew they were safe. It was an odd feeling. Nice, but odd. He had gotten all too used to worrying over somebody (usually Kiku). Enduring peace was a difficult thing to get used to. But as he looked over the rest of the town, he was glad that he had played a part in making the peace a reality. Their struggles hadn’t been for nothing.

Over on the rocks by the sea, discussions continued. Helene looked across the rocks to Alaric, both finalising cooperation agreements and the finer details of the end to all the fighting.  
“We also use nets in the catching of fish, and we hunt the whales out in the deep water as well.” Helene described. “We don’t have the capacity to store large numbers of fish, so the amount we catch is accordingly small. Still, I’ll try to keep my hunters out of the way of your boats as much as possible. I trust this is no issue?”  
“None at all.” Alaric accepted. “We in turn will make every effort to ensure our nets are safe. I’ll instruct our fishermen to be aware of any merpeople below the water before casting.”  
“That would be acceptable.” Helene stated. “You’re an easy man to work with when all’s said and done Alaric. I appreciate your awareness and consideration for our kind’s needs.”  
“It is not consideration.” Alaric shrugged off. “It is merely common sense. If we should hope to coexist together for the foreseeable future, we have to be considerate of each other. Anything else simply will not do.”  
“Well said.” Helene nodded, before looking out over the beach. “I think… That this will go a lot more smoothly than I ever anticipated. Especially among the young. They are quick to react, are they not?”  
“Indeed they are.” Alaric responded, looking over to where Kiku’s group was still gathered.  
“It’s strange. I never expected you to have a son around the same age as mine.” Helene mused. “It seems we are all more alike than we could ever have realised.”  
“Perhaps.” Alaric considered. “You could be right.”

Feliciano giggled and pressed an accusing finger into Sadik’s shoulder. “You can’t be so aloof like that!” He complained. “That’s not a description at all!”  
“What more of a description do ya need?” Sadik asked incredulously.   
“Well.” Kiku stalled. “I suppose Feliciano wants to know what he actually looks like.”  
“Yeah!” Said teenager jumped in. “It’s really great that he’s a really smart guy, and nice, and that he’s affectionate even if he doesn’t look like he cares about people. But that doesn’t tell us anything about what he actually looks like.”  
“Ah.” Sadik sat back. “Well… Ya know. He’s got golden eyes, and really short brown hair, and yeah. I like him.”  
“Aww.” Feliciano cooed. “Is he tall, dark and handsome then?”  
“Tall? Nope.” Sadik laughed. “But I don’t care. He’s perfect in my eyes.”  
“Well good for you I guess.” Herakles admitted. “Seems like something good came out of you being exiled.”  
“Well, I guess.” Sadik shrugged. “But I’m still glad things are all settled again.”  
“Yeah.” Herakles agreed. “Me too.”

The sun eventually set below the waterline and both merpeople and humans went back to their homes. After Sadik, Loukas, Feliciano and Ludwig had said their goodbyes and left, Kiku and Herakles were left facing each other on a deserted beach.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Herakles assumed.  
“Tomorrow.” Kiku agreed.  
“We don’t have far to go… We can just meet right here, on the beach. And nobody will mind.” Herakles smiled. “I like it.”  
“I like it too.” Kiku agreed.  
“And if we want to be more private… Since you seem to prefer affection away from view… The sea cave’s not far from here. And if people know where we’ve gone… It doesn’t matter.” Herakles continued.  
“That’s true.” Kiku felt a little awkward still at the idea of engaging in displays of affection only separated from others by the wall of a cave, but appreciated that Herakles was thinking about his needs. “Shall we meet tomorrow then?”  
“Yeah. Tomorrow.” Herakles embraced Kiku another time before kissing him briefly on the lips and turning back towards the sea. “Love you Kiku.”  
“I love you too.” Kiku smiled a little, watching as Herakles slipped back into the sea.

As he started off for home, peace reigned overall, be it beneath the waves or above the sea.


End file.
